The Sustenance Of Legends
by Master Edge 2
Summary: Johto lies on the verge of civil war. Outsiders have arrived and tension rises within the cities of the country. Follow Zachary Pine as he sets out to help advance his new home land, and bring a better way of life to its people. Along the way he creates savage enemies, unconventional allies, and discovers what might bring the developing country to its knees.
1. Foundations

**Hello and welcome to something that had become a bit of a pet project. I'm normally not one to write fanfiction of any kind, but lately I've had this idea of a story implanted into my mind. I want to tell a story of a man in a world that is harsh and takes a good sense to survive in. I thought the Pokemon world suited this just fine.**

**I read The Sun Soul by _50caliberchaos,_** l**oved it, became inspired by it, and began to write my first fanfiction. Big thanks to him. Let's get started then.  
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><p>The day of his loss was when he was eight years old. The sun still had yet to rise over the trees of the forest, but the light still shone through in the mass of trees which thinned as the group had grown closer to its borders.<p>

Not a single person, but him, survived till the morning, and for once it was not the forces of nature that had claimed them with streams of fire or the searing blow of frigid wind summoned by the very god-like animals they lived among. These were the actions of humans, who's powers lied in gunpowder and steel. The basics of martial weaponry, in a world where creatures wielded the power of the elements themselves, left something to be desired in the deaths of the members of the caravan.

Head thumping, the young boy laid in the cramped cabin beneath the wagon. Every nerve in his body screamed at him, shooting pain through his system as he tried to move.

His hazel eyes slowly opened. He could not see anything in the darkness that surrounded him. The only light source that graced the boy with its presence came from the small sliver of sunlight which filtered through a single crack. The break in the wood had been produced when the wagon had been knocked over, spilling the artifacts he had helped his father dig up a few days prior.

He stirred, laying against the wall which now acted as a floor. The haze of his mind had finally begun to subside. His head pounded behind his eyes, feeling the tension in the back of his neck as well. The boy had been beaten without even fighting, but he was alive. He was happy for that.

As his consciousness gained, he began to hear the dull murmur of voices outside. He took a deep breath as he slowly turned to his side, his back aching as he did so. With much protest from his shoulders, he propped himself up on one elbow, his nose touching the wall in the tiny compartment.

He slowly made his way to his feet. Every part of his body, which were required for their respective actions, sent pain screaming to his mind in protest. With heavy breaths, he looked up. The small crack, which brought in the light, was not big enough to see through. He didn't know if the aggressors were outside, but if it was daytime he had been out for more than seven hours. Even in his daze, the boy was intelligent enough to know that.

He pushed up, lifting the small wooden door open. The sudden surge of light caused him to shield his eyes with his forearms. The light became blocked almost immediately by a towering figure. Four large arms protruding out of the large silhouette

He felt two large hands beneath his shoulders as he was pulled out, and was placed gently to his feet by the hulking creature, which stood an easy four feet over the eight year old boy. The behemoth figure moved away, allowing its trainer to take a position in front of him.

The boy's weak legs shook with the rest of his body, and the smell of gunpowder flooded his nostrils, stinging as he breathed in. He began to cough, falling to his knees. He heard the sounds of the man talking, but couldn't make them out when his lungs began their assault.

His eyes, as he recovered from his coughing fit, finally began to open. The light of the day blinded him at first, but they quickly adjusted. At first he only saw the large black boots of a man standing in front of him, but he quickly looked up. The light of the morning sun gleamed on his bald head, he had he demeanor of a hardened soldier. Concern had grown on his features. Behind him stood a hulking machamp, the humanoid's fish-like head was fixed on the boy, interlocked in a perpetual grin.

The boy looked around absentmindedly, still dizzy. He saw scattered lumps of brown and black scattered around the wagon. How many of which were not distinguishable in the thick of the powder.

It wasn't for a few moments before he realized the man was talking to him. To the kid, his words sounded like a muffled hum.

Finally, as the shock to his senses began to lift, his ears allowed the man's voice to be understood. "..ou alri...?" he heard at first, his mind sharpening to the mans words. "Are you ok? the man repeated.

The boy didn't respond, but simply stood, his legs quivering again, but regaining their strength. He nodded, looking around at the nine bodies that surrounded the wagon.

The tauros, a bullet wound clearly defined on both sides of its head, laid with the other bodies, still strapped to the front of the wagon. Behind it laid the scattered remains of pots and plates used by people of ancient times.

Through the mist of the powder, a single figure stood out to him. A blue skinned lion laying on the ground, its black fur matted with blood from yet more bullet holes. His father's luxio, which laid on top of its trainer.

The eight year old boy didn't want to believe what he was looking at. His mind worked like a machine that had not been used in quite some time, and this was something that simply thew him deeper in his haze. The man had been speaking to him, but he simply shut him out. This man, who had pulled him from his potential coffin, had might as well have been miles away.

The child stumbled slowly towards the body of his father, tripping over the leg of another dead man. He hit the ground hard, landing with a grunt. As he laid there for a moment, his eyes meet the gaze of another dead pokemon, it's red eyes looking vacantly into the forest.

He pushed himself up and stepped over another body before he reached his father. His father had always been a dignified man, even his body laid with a level of decorum. His mouth did not hang open, his eyes had closed. He passed slowly. His grey jacket was stained with blood over his stomach, and his hand rested uselessly against the wound. A trail of disturbed dirt led from where his body laid to where he had been shot. He had begun to drag himself towards the wagon before his passing.

His other arm was laid over top of the luxio. The two had passed away together, both succumbing to their injuries. It wasn't until later in his life that he would realize that his father passed knowing his son would be safe. Later in his life he would have a revelation about the flare gun that lied next to him. His father had signaled for help, and in Sinnoh's well patrolled routes, that was certain to be seen by a ranger. His father was always a bright man.

The only thing he could do was rest his head on his fathers shoulder, tears streaming down his face. Had he done this while his father was alive he would have heard him sing in soothing tones, but not this time. No more songs would come from his father, and nothing would comfort him in this time.

"Mesprit's heart..." the large man said as he approached the scene. "You're Zachary Pine." He stood for a moment in silence before he knelt. "I'm sorry about your father, he was a good man."

Zach said nothing to the man. only allowing the sounds of his whimpering to emanate.

Another man appeared from behind the wagon, his long hair falling over his face. "They have it," he said blandly over the sound of the crying child.

The man by Zach turned to look over the carnage, his features somber. "All we can do is hope they can't use it. We can get them back eventually."

"We'll run out of time eventually. We have to act."

"What will you have us do?" the man stressed. "March on their headquarters? Just the two of us? Our priority is to get this boy to the city, and a report written on this attack."

The man simply crossed his arms. "It means financial disaster," he said dryly.

"It means nothing. We have time."

The sound of a branch breaking caught the attention of the three.

Zach, with tears still falling down his face, rose his head from his father's shoulder. Movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. His heart raced, and he simply remained knelt and frozen among the other bodies. Scavengers would surely come to this scene, and even more bold pokemon would take on the living ones.

A small brown pokemon emerged from the forest. This animal had no look of aggression, only terror, matching Zach's sorrow in it's large black eyes. It looked between the three humans among the dead nine, its long ears pulled back in a cowering stance. Pokemon had varying levels of intelligence based on species and individuals. Eevee were among the most intelligent of non-psychic types

The baby vulpine pokemon inched cautiously towards Zach, who was the least threatening of the group. It was obvious that this pokemon was not wild, and that it had lost its owner in the attack.

The large man slowly inched back to make space for the advancing eevee, and gestured to his machamp to take the same action. The eevee reached Zach and sat, its sorrowful eyes never breaking away from him.

The boy looked at the eevee for a few moments, still fighting back sobs. He outreached his hand slowly to the trembling canine, hoping to find some comfort in its soft fur.

Comfort was found. He scratched it with absent minded interest between its ears. A few more moments and Zach had eased his crying, removing his hand from the pokemon's head.

"I want to go home," he said, his voice quiet and shaking.

"Eterna?" the ranger replied, to which the boy silently nodded.

He looked up to the man, noticing the emblem patched into the chest of his uniform. White wings reaching out of a golden ring, with the background of a silver shield. A ranger working for the Sinnoh League. A protector of the lost and the helpless. The boy felt a small amount of hope for himself, but still only wanted his father to be able to come home with him.

"You're lucky your father was well known..." said the long haired man as he approached them from behind the wagon, who was quickly silenced by a glare from the other ranger.

Zach looked back to the bodies, wanting to take one last look before they departed. He said nothing, only looking at his fathers body, which laid along with the bodies of the rest of the convey and their pokemon.

Their flintlock rifles had been taken along with their swords. They would likely be sold to local bandits since firearms were so rarely seen among commoners. He even noticed the pokeballs, which some of the guards possessed, had been taken. Nothing was left there but the dead, and a wagon full of useless clay pots from ancient times.

"Don't worry. We'll see that he receives a proper burial," the larger ranger said, placing his hand on the boy's back. "They all will."

The small eevee watched as the company departed, whining quietly as his long ears fell back again. It caught the attention of the boy. They had much in common.

They had both lost people in this attack, and he was paying attention from the infant, who appeared to seek security from him. Not the long haired man with four pokeballs on his belt, nor the tall bald man with six. Him: the eight year old boy who had just suffered a tragedy, who had no experience with pokemon other than what his father told him.

He felt a small amount of reprieve from his sorrowfulness when he stared at the eevee. "You can come if you want," he said. The eevee almost seemed to understand, and it trotted over to Zach, sitting at his feet.

Zach scanned the scene once more, and he spoke to the pokemon, fighting a shake in his voice as he did so. "You and I," he said quietly. "This will never happen to us again." He looked back to the bodies of his dad and his pokemon "No more loss."

The eevee simply cocked its head in response, and Zach leaned over to picked him up. The pokemon sniffed at the boy's hand, hesitantly looking around their misty surroundings. It only took a few seconds for the eevee to take refuge in Zach's arms, and the boy stood, holding the tiny infant to his chest. In response, the pokemon licked his cheek before curling up in his arms.

The long haired man now walked beside Zach and his new partner. "Who did that eevee belong to?" he asked.

The larger man looked down at the small cat-like fox, then to Zach. "It's his now," he said contently as they let the mist of the gunpowder and the smell of death fall far behind them. "That's all that matters now."

Zach had come to name the eevee Leo. Sharing the name of his father's fallen luxio, who had protected his father till the very end.

15 years later

Johto

The day of his arrival was a miserable day, the beautiful blue sky was glazed over by hideous gray clouds. The threat of rain loomed, the clouds acting as a warning for the potential downpour. As ominous as it seemed, any rainfall would mean nothing to the young man sitting in the back cabin of the car.

He had short black hair, not going so far as to pass his ears. His eyes had remained the same shade as he grew older, maintaining an apparent glow of hazel. He had been called attractive by many women, both ones he knew well, and by the charismatic characters he had passed on he street going to and from work.

He looked out the window, lines of trees gave way to fields, which returned to forest shortly after. The trees passed steadily as the slow moving vehicle made its trip. The scenery of Southern Johto was exciting to Zachary, despite its monotony. His long journey was almost to an end.

His bounty of luggage cramped the area, covering both the forward facing and backward facing seats in the cabin, as well as the space in between. Despite the clutter of the area, he felt a sensation of relaxation. He had leaned back in the seat, his elbow rested on the door. His head rested on the back of his hand, his face tranquil. His new life was about to begin, far from the city, far from anything that made him comfortable.

He took an orb off of his belt and held it up, admiring its red cover as a nice change of tone in the otherwise bleak setting. The ball had been a perfect tool for keeping his professor safe many times, the bond built between its contents and himself proved to be stronger than any wild pokemon who had attempted on their lives.

"Almost there," he said quietly to the ball, speaking to what laid dormant inside "then you can get out of there."

With a smile he lowered the ball and let his hand fall on his thigh, now holding the capsule precariously in his fingers. His dormant thoughts were accompanied by the quiet humming of the electric engine powering the cab. He rocked gently around in his seat, the uneven pavement of the shoddy road, Zach noted, being only just safe enough to drive on.

The glass panel, which separated Zach from the driver, slid open, catching his full attention. Anticipating a conversation, he sat up in his seat. If the driver and he were going to converse it would be the first interaction with him in the two hour drive.

"Sorry to bother you," the driver said, his friendly face growing more serious as he spoke. "I want to ask what brings you so far from your homeland to live in a border town on the frontier." The lines on his aged face became more pronounced as he spoke, his tone changing from the chummy cheer of a chaperon to the cold tone of an earnest man who had seen much. He continued, "I hope you're prepared. People die out here if they're not careful outside of the town."

Zach sat quietly for a moment, he knew the danger. He practically lived on the field in Sinnoh. Helping Rowan conduct research. Even his lab work was mostly his reports containing what he had learned on the field. He was a professors assistant, but he was strictly a field assistant, taking the time, when Rowan took to the comfort of the city, to train and build his knowledge of survival in the wild. Much to the pride, and concern, of his mother.

"I'm here to work for Sean Elm," he said matter-of-factually.

The driver remained silent for a moment, focusing on the road. "Ah, yes. The professor," he said with a grin, breaking the gloom of his previous statement. "You must have really impressed him to have been hired from so far away. Sinnoh, right? I can tell by your accent." He allowed a smile, his rugged features wrinkling.

"Yes, I'm from Eterna City," Zach said before proceeding with his real answer. "Elm said he needed someone with experience in training and raising a pokemon, and that I was the only one who caught his eye in that regard."

"You're a trainer then?"

"Field assistant. Kind of a blend of researcher and trainer." Zach attempted to explain as he rested his arm over the top of the seat.

"So is that Pokemon in the ball yours? Or is it for Elm?"

"He's mine," Zach said proudly. "Since I was young." he said, remembering the day he and his Pokemon had met, his eyes dulling as the thoughts entered his mind.

"It's good to have an old friend in a new place," the driver said, discontinuing his questioning. He returned his full attention to the road. "It must be hard to leave your friends behind to come half way across the world."

"It is, but I know they'll stay in touch."

"How?" The driver asked flatly, turning his gaze to the rear view mirror to look Zach in the eye in an apparent attempt to add weight to what he was about to say. "There are no phones on the frontier, friend. You got spoiled living in a developed country."

Zach sat quietly for a moment, remembering the research he had done on the newer country of Johto. He had been right. It was only two hundred years ago that people came down from Sinnoh to attempt a settlement that was closer to the Orange Isles and Orre,. A bill of independence from Sinnoh was signed not long after Goldenrod had started to flourish and so they cut themselves off, becoming their own country without the aid of their motherland. So the province of Johto in the Indigo Leagues was born.

The driver continued. "Progress in Johto is slow, but it is steady. I warn you, though. Things have been better. Olivine and Ecruteak are at each others throats like houndoom. I have a friend in Olivine, he tells me that Ecruteak's been getting bold near the border. I think it's a load of shit, but Ecruteak has seen better days. They might be getting desperate."

"Things were certainly less interesting in Sinnoh. How long has this been going on?" Zach asked.

"No idea," the man quickly dismissed. "but if anything goes on up there that would effect the Violet region." He looked at Zach through his rear view mirror. "That's us," he informed.

"I hope it doesn't go anywhere," Zach admitted.

The driver simply waved his hand dismissively. "Honestly I doubt it will escalate."

"Still...," Zach whispered to himself as he hunched back into his eat and looked out the window.

He watched the distant ocean to the south. A small smile contradicted his worry. The ocean, maybe half a kilometer away, grew closer as the car slowly approached New Bark. The scenery of the trees quickly gave way to a beach, the waves falling gently on the sand. Finally he saw the first indication that he had almost arrived. A large orange sign stood on the side of the road, welcoming any new arrivals. It had been ravaged by nature's wrath, but was still readable.

New Bark Town

Population 228

"Where the winds of a new beginning blow."

As the car made a final turn, Zach finally saw the walls of New Bark Town, the sight of civilization exciting Zach the same way it did when he left Cherrygrove. His new life would be here, and despite the danger, he was happy to be there.

The cab slowed to a full stop in front of the gates. The driver rolled down his window, raising his hand outside as an indication to the guards who were posted on top of the wall. Zach couldn't see them from where he sat, except for a single guard positioned further up the wall. His green and muddy body armour fitting loosely over the scrawny man.

Shifting into park, the driver stuck his head out of the window. "It's Dallen!" he shouted to the men. "I have Elm's new fodder." He laughed. Zach heard the men on the wall laugh as well, feeling his face burn red.

As the driver began to ease the car through the gate, he turned to his passenger. "Don't mind the fodder comment." he said with a smile, his white teeth almost glowing compared to his tanned complexion. "We say that joke about all of Elm's aids, and none of them have died yet."

"Yet," Zach retorted. He lowered his head, releasing a troubled sigh.

Dallen drove the car through the gates and proceeded to stop where the pavement ended in the small settlement where cars could only go as far as the first houses. He put the vehicle into park and cut the power to the engine, the hum of the motor ending its light assault on Zach's ears after two hours.

"You'll find people here have a different sense of humour. It helps deal with life on the frontier. Think nothing of it," Dallen said defensively. "Its the first thing you'll notice. Now let's get you settled. You're probably eager, and I need to stretch. I'm as stiff as a sudowoodo." He stood up out of the cramped drivers seat, his knees popping loudly as he straightened out.

Zach stepped out of the car, his knees also popping as he did so. With a relieved sigh, he stretched and looked back into the back cabin of the car with a frown. All the luggage would have to be carried to his residence, and where that was he didn't have a clue. The luggage would have to stay in the car for now in a town he didn't know with people he couldn't yet trust.

He looked over to Dallen, who stood staring at a garage behind him before turning to Zach."I guess you need to talk to Elm before I lock this old girl up," he said, patting the high roof of the car. "You can see the lab from here, largest building in town. You can't miss it." He pointed behind him, presenting the green roof, which protruded over some trees between them and the building. The roof looked like it would glow in the sunlight if that day had permitted it.

From the path leading towards the lab, a dark figure contrasted by his white lab coat came running towards the car. The short haired man was heavy built, his shoulders and chest broad, double the size of the medium built Zach. As he drew closer, Zach could see the panic in the mans features, his mouth was open and his less than white teeth were clenched together. When he passed the gate his attention turned from the wall he was approaching to the cab and its driver.

"Dallen, did you see Professor Elm out there?" he spat out between his breaths.

The driver waved his hand in front of him. "No. Why?"

"Damn," he exasperated as he ran off again towards a tawdry staircase that led to the top of the wall.

The man reached the top of the stairs and said something to a few of the guards, who immediately ran north up the wall. Another scientist, a woman who was attractive despite her old age, ran past Zach and the cab, taking the same route. The dark skinned scientist immediately ordered her to go to the northern position, to which she responded.

"It's likely he'll come from where Ashley is positioned, but we'll be here just in case," said the dark skinned scientist to the guards, pushing his glasses closer to his face. He turned his head to Zach, his chest rising and falling heavily. "You're the new field assistant, right? Come up here!"

One of the guards took his pokeball in his hand and threw it on the ground. A brilliant white light brightened the area around them on the dark, overcast day. The light swirled as it found its shape, congealing into a humanoid form. The white light turned yellow as an electabuzz took its position beside its trainer.

The guard spoke quietly to it, and the pokemon looked at him with a surprising intelligence, as thought it actually understood the orders being given to it. Pokemon of humanoid nature often had this trait, although modern science of their world had not been able to explain why. When the guard finished talking, everyone around it stood back. An audible crackling emitted from the creature as its fur began to stand up.

"There!" A guard yelled, pointing into the forest.

Zach took the final step to the top of the stair case just in time to see Elm emerge from the forest. Wheezing, the middle aged man jumped out of the bush, running desperately towards the wall.

"Get the gate open!" yelled one of the guards to another standing in a glass booth. Without hesitation a button was pressed, triggering the high pitched whining of the gate as it labored to open.

Behind Elm, a swarm of rattatta appeared from the forest. No more than five or six, but enough to take a man apart without much effort. Their red eyes focused solely on Elm, unaware of their surroundings in their pursuit. They were a fair ways back from Elm, obviously outrun by the long strides of the larger human. Their perseverance, Zach noted, was impressive.

Before Elm had reached the open gate, he hazarded a glance behind him, causing him to stumble in his exhaustion, and becoming off balanced by his backwards glance. Elm slowed and the rattata began to gain on him. He was five meters from the gate, and losing distance, but not as well as he used to be.

One rattata ran ahead of the group, mouth open and razor sharp incisors ready to take whatever it could from the professor.

The electabuzz responded to the wayward rattata. A loud crack followed by a split second of lightening flashed from the humanoid. It hit the rodent, connecting with its eye and popping it like a ripe tomato. The rodent landed with a skid, smoke fuming from its mouth.

"Take care of the rest!" its trainer ordered. The electabuzz, nodded in confirmation, and the air around it cracked again. The sound the second time sounded almost exactly like quiet thunder, without the rolling echos in the sky. With a blinding flash, the swarm of rattata all dropped at once. One had exploded in a charred mess, the smell of burnt flesh instantly hitting Zach like a wave.

"Shit," a guard near Zach muttered. He looked to the man, who gritted his uneven teeth as his face grew red with anger. Zach followed his gaze. The booth, which held the switch, stood uselessly, the interior dim. The young and inexperienced guard inside stood dumbfounded. "Damn kid," said the older guard as he walked past Zach. He yelled to the booth. "Did you not release the fucking button?" he asked, his voice booming with anger.

He pushed the younger guard out of the glass booth, pressing the button multiple times before leaning on the console, his head hung and his face red. He breathed in and out for a few moments before he could gather what little patience remained of him in his old age. He was a man who had been doing this for too long. He stuck his head out and hollered to the man north up the wall. "Hey, Jason. Take Buzz and charge this damn generator so we can close the gate" he said.

He looked back to the younger guard, who couldn't have been a year older than Zach himself. "I've told you this a hundred times," he hissed. "the button doesn't need to be held. You suck out the power faster than the generator can produce it, and then we can't close the gate." He pointed to the unit of dead pokemon laying scattered on the dirt path. "Then those things get in."

Zach glanced down to Elm, who Dallen had met as soon as he entered the walls. He began to take a step down the stairs, but was interrupted by the hollering of the young guard.

"Raticate!" he hollered. He shouldered his rifle and pulled back the hammer. After a moment of aim he fired, the hammer connected with the fission and the gun unleashed a thunderous bang. The scrawny boy looked like he almost fell back when the gun fired. The bullet impacted the dirt where the raticate had been when the gunpowder ignited. It was too fast for such a large and inaccurate weapon.

"Dammit, Randall." the old man shouted. "Hold fire!" He leaned over the railing on the inside of the wall where the electabuzz had just reached the generator."Get that damn gate shut!" he shouted, watching Buzz position his hands on the negative and positive of the battery.

Elm and Dallen moved further from the gate, the driver opening the door of his cab to provide the professor with shelter in case the pokemon entered the town.

The dark skinned scientist looked over to Zach, his face stern. "Show us why he hired you," he said flatly.

A second later Zach's pokeball flew to the ground, at the foot of the wall, and cracked open. White light swirled into its shape. Long ears pronouncing themselves from the center as they pushed forwards to the forming head. Moving from the head, the pokemon took shape. Four legs and a long, broad tail took their conformation. Before it fully took the form of an entity of matter, it had already taken its stance, holding its sharp-edged tail upwards and poised to pounce. The beige fur of the canine took its pronunciation, along with the green moss which coated sections of its body.

The raticate, spotting the creature, instantly redirected its charge at it, running over the bodies of its inferior counterparts. It's mouth looked as though it could eat most anything in a single bite. Sharp fangs ran up towards its incisors, its foremost teeth measured the length of a grown mans forearm. It grew closer to its target, opening its mouth as it readied to bite the leafeon in half.

Zach's leafeon, still in its stance, waited patiently for the large rat to close the distance between them. Once it had come within a meter of the fox, it leaped forwards, landing beside the charging rat. The next thing that came from the raticate was a stream of crimson flowing out of its side, running through its brown fir and onto the ground. As it landed, its entrails popped out of the wound, leaving a pink protrusion on its side. The raticate laid on the ground struggling, the ground around it streaking with a short trail of blood. Leo walked over to the raticate's throat and clamped his jaws down, cutting off the airflow.

Among the six rattata, their leader now laid five meters closer to the wall than any of them had made it.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Zach jogged down the stairs and towards Elm, who stood with his hands on his knees still trying to catch his breath as Dallen kept his position between the professor and the still open gate.

Like a phantom, his leafeon ran silently back to him. As the Pokemon reunited with his trainer, he raised himself to his hind legs and jumped up onto Zach. He had folded his green tail towards the center, giving it more vulpine appearance. He had been trained to do so when no threats were around, as to avoid any accidents had someone come into contact with the razor sharp edges. Zach patted the leafeon's head with a proud smile before ordering him down. The fox obeyed and sat on his haunches, still looking up at his partner.

Elm was a skinny man, but tall. Despite this, his muscles had been toned from working in the field. The only lines on the professors young and tanned face were around his mouth, and more had began to carve themselves into his forehead. His hair was short and brown, with random strands of grey beginning to pronounce themselves. Along with this, it had begun to recede in his mid-life years. To compliment all of this, dark brown eyes peered through round glasses, giving Elm the full appearance of a scientist. Although he looked the part of a brilliant mind, he had the signs of stress decorating his features.

Elm, taking deep breaths, looked up to Zach. The hint of a smile exposed in combination with his exhaustion. His young and tanned face was red, sweat pouring down his brow. He removed his circular glasses, producing a cloth from his suit as he began to wipe them clean. "I thought I recognized Leo," he said between his panting breaths.

"Are you hurt?" Zach asked, suddenly realizing he didn't know what to say.

Elm smiled "I'm fine," he said with a laugh, his adrenaline still pumping. "I'm glad you made it here safely, Zach." They shook hands. "To be honest I forgot you were coming today," he said as he scratched the back of his head.

The dark skinned scientist approached from the wall, his face as stern as ever. "I thought you had a furret with you." he said handing Elm another cloth from his lab coat.

Elm, giving an exasperated laugh, broke the professional mannerism Zach had grown accustomed to during his time with him in Eterna City. "Damn noctowl carried it off." He mimicked the swooping of the Pokemon with his hand. "Came out of nowhere and grabbed it. I was so wrapped up in what I was doing that I must have not noticed until those rattata decided I looked good."

After a few moments of a silent break in the conversation, Elm had managed to ease his breathing. He began to take slow and steady breaths, looking about the situation. "No time to lose, Zach. Lets get you acquainted with the lab. I have a special assignment for you. Consider it a thank you for coming so far south to live here," he said, placing his hand on Zach's back as he urged him to follow. Which of course Zach did, Leo in toe.

An assignment already, and he hadn't even gotten his luggage from the car.

Less than a minute had passed they reached a left turn in the path, leading him directly to the lab, which was fairly plain besides the large windows that occupied a large portion of the wall on either side of a large double door. The two story building has little in the way of decoration. It simply stood blankly against a mountainous backdrop, leaving something to be desired by Elm's new employee. As far as labs went, it looked more like a warehouse than a scientific institution on the verge of provincial recognition.

"You'll be doing much of the same stuff you did with Rowan." Elm told him as they reached the front door, stopping in front of the double doors. "My focus is on breeding patterns, but the evolution of infant pokemon is also my area of specialty." he said modestly. "I haven't been doing this for long, so an experienced helper is nice. I graduated from Professor Oak's class only a few years ago, but I've found great things." Zach had realized that Elm wasn't as much older than him as he thought. He put Elm at maybe thirty-two or thirty-five, no more than twelve years older than himself. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you your assignment," the professor said as he pushed open the doors into the laboratory.

The lab, like the building itself, was not much in the way of eye catching. Its white bland floor blended with the walls and ceiling, leaving little in the way of distractions. The same bland white colour extended to the machines lining the walls, the large computers only distinction from a simple protrusion in the wall being the black consoles sitting in the midsection of the towers. Various lights blinking on and off in their own patterns, indicating something Zach was sure he would be familiar with soon enough.

Zach followed him to the back of the lab to his office, which was only separated from the rest of the room by the large boxes that had been stacked high. A desk laid under a mountain of papers, which extended their invasion to the floor. Zach stood outside of the makeshift room, fearing he'd step on something important. Elm opened the drawer of his desk and produced a key, walking past Zach again towards a large door.

He moved again towards a large machine with glass surrounding a single pokeball. "Normally I'd have at least three pokemon in here, but they've been given out to aspiring guards who proved their worth," he said. "That electabuzz is good, but we cant rely on him all the time, and in a town with no gym we need all the protection we can get." He unlocked the machine, and the glass panel slid open. He grabbed the single pokeball and handed it to Zach. "Speaking of people who have proved themselves, I'm entrusting you with this little guy. He's your assignment."

"Seriously?" Zach said astounded. "To raise him?" Elm simply nodded his head silently, his hand still reaching out with the pokeball. Zach hesitated a bit, but grabbed the pokeball. "What is it?"

"See for yourself." Elm smiled, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Holding the ball in his hand he pressed a button on the side, releasing the lid and allowing the capsule to crack open. The white light shot onto the top of a nearby table and swirled into the shape of a small rodent.

Its ears appeared almost square on the top of its head. The white turned a solid yellow as the baby pokemon opened its eyes, looking around curiously at the room. Zach placed his hand out to touch the small pokemon, which reacted with a small squeak and a snap of weak electricity to Zach's fingers.

Zach recoiled, holding his hand as Leo began to growl at the tiny animal. That move had worked on Leo fifteen years ago, but it looked like that wasn't the winning technique in every case.

"It's alright, Leo." he said to his leafeon. "He's just scared." He crouched to be eye level with the rodent, who only stood half as tall as his head. Leo stopped his growling, curiosity replacing his aggression. The pichu only stared at Zach, its own curiosity flashing on its face.

"He looks like he has aptitude." Zach turned to Elm.

"That species usually does, they're very popular as pets in Kanto. Which is unwise because of how dangerous they can be, but that's why I wanted you to have this pokemon. I can see your ability to raise a Pokemon well from infancy." he nodded towards the leafeon. "I have full confidence in you, Zach. Welcome to New Bark Town."

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><p><strong>So there it is. Bit of a slow start, but I want to set the groundwork without making the chapter too bulky. It's probably going to end up being a heavy read since it's my only <strong>**project so far. Any questions you have, any inconsistencies, ect, ect tell it to my inbox or a review. I'll love you either way, beautiful reader.**

**Edit: Spelling and grammar are slowly being fixed. As well as some oddly worded sentences. **

**I'll be back again with a new chapter.**


	2. The Calling

The sky was clear, not a single cloud lingered in the late spring day. Above the city, the sun shone brightly, caressing the scene with it's warm and welcome glow. The barracks of Violet City were filled that day. Those who gathered watched the young men and women stand in their formation facing the stage at the head of the building, who's green body armour caught the sun and mirrored it as their uniforms reflected and glistened. They were adorned with red scarves hung over the left side of every one of their chests, and their berets gave the formation the look of a green ocean.

Around them, the seats of the stadium were full, and the flags of Violet City waved proudly in the gentle breeze, hosting the cities banner, a blue plain with the white outlines of a pidgeot. Not a word was spoken from the crowed. Not a single cheer or holler or cry of pride for their children. Form and professionalism were all that occupied the stadium.

A man walked up the steps of the stage and towards a small microphone which roosted on a stand.. His blue uniform hosted a collection of medals and badges from various gyms across the country, and his bald head held his matching beret, which sat unwrinkled. As he took his final step he slammed his foot to the wood, and the impact echoed through the stadium. At once the almost one hundred men and women slammed their feet as well, sending a roll of thunder, through the structure, as their feet hit the soft grass. At once they stood at attention, their hands held against the small of their backs.

The man began to give a speech. The first half of which was simply reciting the oaths that these men have given. He recited their obligations to each other and these they swore to protect.

The man continued for the next hour as the shadows of the high standing walls shortened as noon approached. The man carried himself in his blue uniform, his beret sitting on his head with delicacy, psychically placed on his head as to not so much as wrinkle the fiber on his head. His final words echoed through the silent stadium as his voice carried to the ears of every person and pokemon in attendance.

The pokemon listened as well, all with varying levels of understanding. They knew the man before them held authority, although the traditions and complexities of humans escaped them.

"Though the fearow may soar too close to the sun, its wings will not break against the heat. For its will shall not allow it. We may face the eyes of Darkrai, and it may look directly back at us, but we will not flinch, for our will shall not allow it. The vows you have made these past four years direct you onto the path of veracity. For your fellow men, women, and their pokemon. You made this promise to yourselves, your families, and your friends. Do not allow cowardliness to betray you of those vows."

Upon saying these final words, the man reached for his single pokeball and spun on his heels to relase the pokemon to the back of the stage. When the ball impacted the ground the white light formed into a large mist. From it came a large orange figure that stood behind him. It's red eyes shifting along the many faces. The large bulk of the pokemon walked beside its trainer and sat on its haunches, exposing its creme coloured underside to the graduates.

"In the presence of this sacred arcanine, " the headmaster began. "you will listen to these blessings given to us by the monks of the Sprout Tower." He stepped aside to allow for a hooded man to slowly take the stage. His white robes dragging on the rough wood as he moved. The arcanine watched him carefully, only understanding that he was meant to remain where he was.

When the priest faced the crowd, he removed his hood, revealing a young face with a well kept beard. He began to speak, his arms moving elegantly as the white sleeve waved with each movement, flowing like a ribbon.

"May Ho-oh's fire guide you if lost. May Lugia's cries guide you to those in need. May Celibi's eternal grace watch over you in times when one's life relies on yours, and may you stand strong, like the bellsprout." A faint hum of those who could not contain their chuckles emitted quietly through the crowed. "May Mesprit have created your heart, and Azelf and Uxie your mind."

As the priest finished his blessing, the headmaster returned to his position on the stage, thanking the priest as he made his way silently off the stage, his pace in leaving being far quicker than when he had arrived..

Not another word was spoken. He raised his hand into the sky, and, at once, the arcanine released a flash of fire from his mouth. The flames caught to the torches which hovered over the crowed, held in place by psychic's, unseen, in the rafters. Although the light did not illuminate anything in the sun.

"You will leave the stadium in Apiou Formation." He stomped his foot one last time, and held his hand over his heart in a salute.

The graduates returned the salute with a stomp, and the the crowed immediately split in half, the left side turned left, and the right to the right. Each side took eight steps away from each other, then faced the two exits at the back. They marched, slowing as the formation reduced itself to a two-by-to formation as they filtered through the door.

For the next five minutes, the graduates filtered out of the stadium, continuing their formal and restrained demeanor as a group.

One of the graduates moved through the large double doors, his hand running through his short brown hair. Like Zachary, it didn't fall past his ears. Thought unlike him, this man had the aestheticism to attempt a style. His dark eyes scanned the scene.

Vendors had set up many booths in the absence of the automobiles that normally sparsely dotted the small parking lot in front of the barracks, reserved for the outrageously wealthy, or for the honourably accomplished.. As large crowds of people filtered out of every door of the building, the area came to life with the sounds of vendors advertising their wears to people who would stop and look. A small independent business profiting off a large group of people was not uncommon in Violet City, nor was it frowned upon. The economy of the frontier was not as strong as people would have liked, and many people had to do what they could to get by.

He began a perusal of his surroundings, many of his fellow graduates had already met up with their families, hugs and smiles in abundance on the features of many.

He could tell which ones did not wish to remain in the city, he could tell exactly which ones wanted to go for the very top and work for the Indigo Plateau.

He was among them, but his expression did not match their stoic ones. His eyes were smiling, as they always did, a faint smile ever present on his features. He observed his surroundings with the confidence he had earned over his long training. He had his next plan in mind, but he had to wait for someone.

He began to move closer to the vendors, shoving his hands into the pockets of his green decorative pants. He sauntered over casually, knowing that when he would enter the large crowd he would be the target of many of the vendors, most of the graduates were smarter than to go into such a crowd, unless they craved the attention.

Before he could even reach the market, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. With a smile, he turned, locking eyes with the girl who had attracted his attention. She immediately pulled him in, kissing him long and hard. When she pulled back, he could see the glow in her amber eyes.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ranger," she said in an unmistakable tone of cheer, pushing back a strand of her light brown hair out of her face. Her hair fell straight, not curling in any ways, onto her shoulders, where it did not fall beyond.

He kept her close, not letting her out of his gentle hold. "I guess that would make ya' Mrs. Ranger?" he said, his ever present smile growing into a grin. He pulled her in again, kissing his wife gently.

They pulled away from each other, although the girl had been with him long, she couldn't help but blush. She had kissed this man many times before, but never when he was a ranger. Her pride for her husband was not hidden by any stretch of the imagination, but a sensation of guilt showed on her features. Cocking an eye brow, she apologized. "Sorry my parents couldn't make it."

"Ah," he scoffed, waving his hand before his face.. "They would have been bored anyway," he pointed an accusing finger at her. "and I saw you sitting directly behind the headmaster, you were nodding off." He grew more animated once she let go of his waste.

She let out an embarrassed laugh, pushing him gently. "I was not. I was making sure Quen stayed at her seat."

"Ha! Like she would ever disobey an order form me. You were falling asleep," he let a large grin cross his face, one of the many joys he had in life was bugging his significant other. "Can I have her, please?" He held out a hand, to which she placed his only pokeball into.

"So. What's the plan then?"

"New Bark to tell Professor Elm. He'd be happy to hear I made it through with the pokemon he gave me."

"And I'm coming with you?" the girl asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"If ya' want. Honestly, Amy, it's not the most dangerous trip, a lot of the pokemon there are simple normal-types," he admitted, shrugging before letting his arms fall to his side.

"I'll see if the pokemon center will give me the time off," Amy said vacantly, her thoughts falling into conceptualizing how she was going to ask her boss.

"I think they wouldn't have an issue with it. There are a lot of other nurses who could fill your schedule for the week."

"Ok, Adrian. Mr. Optimistic," she said mockingly.

"Hey," Adrian retorted, turning away and folding his arms. "That's Ranger Optimistic."

They shared a laugh together, he took her hand in his as they began to walk away from the market, daring not attract that sort of attention. Although Adrian would have enjoyed the ego-boost from the many congratulations he would have received.

"Excuse me?" They heard a frail voice call out. They both turned. Over their shoulders stood an old man. He was garbed head-to-toe in a matte robe, his hood pulled over his face to hide his eyes. "Did you say you were going to professor Elm?"

Adrian stood for a moment, scanning the old man up and down, he looked weak, and he had no pokeballs. Evidently he was a man with a pressing matter he couldn't handle on his own. So Adrian humoured him. "Yes." He released his wife's hand, turning around to fully face the old man. "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, his tone becoming deeper and more confident. His new job as a ranger might be getting off the ground already.

"Please," the old man pleaded, stepping forward towards the young man. "You have a pokemon, and you're young. I can't make the trip anymore. Please," he produced an orb, wrapped in a brown cloth, from the front pocket of his robe. The opening of the pocket etched with white markings. "Can you take this to him?"

Adrian stood still, feeling the man's old eyes gaze at him from beneath the hood. The only thing he felt was a sense of youthful pride, someone was already calling on his aid. "Sure. Anything for the people," he grinned.

Anyone less eager would have asked more questions, but this man had given Adrian the one thing he wanted at this point. Opportunity. He was eager to start his work as a ranger, and to put his training into practice. His impatience nagged at his mind until it gave, and he accepted the man's request.

The man's old legs moved beneath the rob, but he seemed to glide toward Adrian. He held out his shaking hand to the boy, his tanned fingers gripping the clothe covered orb tightly. "He has to find out what this is. Please, tell him it's important," He said before handing it off to him.

They stood for a moment, Adrian looking at the cloth. He moved to uncover it, but the mans hand shot out with a surprising speed, firmly grabbing Adrian's wrist. "No!" he shouted, the creak in his voice surprising the ranger. "Only Elm can see this. I doubt you would understand."

Adrian recoiled from the sudden speed of the elder, his eyes darting back and forth between his face and his wrist. He tugged the wrist and broke the hold. Another moment passed, the conversation at a pause and overcome with the sounds of the city living and breathing around them. Taking a deep breath, Adrian tried to compose himself. "Ok. If that's a condition, I have to carry it out in that manner, I guess." He looked back down at the cloth covered item in his hand. "For the people, I guess," he grumbled.

Without another word the man turned away, disappearing into the large crowd between the market and those still leaving the stadium. Adrian simply stood there, watching the man leave with a puzzled gaze. H looked down at the object he had been handed, and shoved it into his pocket. '_Maybe I should be more cautious in the future'_ he thought to himself, as he turned back to Amy.

SC

Zach's house was mostly dark with the exception of the single lamp, which illuminated the textbooks that were scattered over his desk. Luggage from his trip was laid around the house, mostly against the wall as neatly as they could possibly be situated, but also sitting on furniture and across the floor. He hadn't fully unpacked even though he had been living in New Bark for the better part of a month at this point. He was at work more than he was home, and the welcomed opportunity for cleanliness had yet to arise for the research assistant.

Zach stepped out of his kitchen, with a glass of water, and moved across the hardwood floor towards the desk. Placing the water down, he sat, the sound of the chair against the hardwood floor resonating through the sparsely furnished room.

He hunched over the documents, studying Elm's works. He had managed to get most of it in his short time with the professor, but his findings were becoming more advanced. In such a short time Zach had to restart his thought process with Elm's work due to new findings contradicting old ones, it was convoluted, as it always has been. That was the very essence of science, complexity.

An hour of filtering through the information passed before Zach sat back in his chair. "Come on, Zach. Try to keep pace," he mumbled to himself as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He took a moment to look away from the papers, scanning the small narrow room. His front door sat directly behind him, a design he had still not gotten used to, but this was the only place his large desk would fit. His house was small, as were most of the homes in the village, but it was cozy. He was slowly getting used to the quiet life of the border town. He had found New Bark to be a sleepy village, and the economy was not as strong as the city he was used to.

His train of thought was interrupted by the pile of books next to him being toppled over, knocking all but one of them on the floor. Papers glided down, landing, at most, a meter from the desk. Zach sighed quietly at the mess, eyeing the culprit instantly.

The pichu sat on the desk, peeking, over the edge, at the mess it had just made, it's small tail twitching. He sniffed around at the rest of the desk, climbing over and rustling papers as he went along. Zach only smiled at his new addition. He had come to know this particular pichu was mischievous in its young age, knocking things over and hiding behind almost any furniture Zach had possessed. There were a few times he had come late to work because he had to find the small mouse, much to Elm's understanding.

"Come here, you," he said as he leaned over and picked up the tiny pokemon, triggering a small squeak from the rodent. He sat against him in his hands, sniffing at his white shirt before looking up at his owner. Zach patted the top of his head with a single finger. "How am I supposed to get any work done with you always causing trouble?" he asked, amused at the pichu. "Riley The Chaotic. That suits you just fine."

He began to rub little pokemon on his belly. Immediately, Riley grabbed at the finger with his small hands, gnawing at it. He let loose an electrical discharge. Zach recoiled a bit at the shock, shaking his hand and opening and closing it. Thankfully, at his young age, Riley was not powerful enough to cause harm.

"We're going to have to get that under control," Zach muttered, both to himself and the mouse.

He set Riley down on the desk and began to pick up the papers and books. He stacked them neatly, pushing them to the back end of the table where they couldn't be accidentally knocked off. Accidentally being the key word. Riley moved for the books almost as soon as they were put down, but to Zach's pleasure he simply leaned his back against them and closed his eyes.

Things were finally starting to whined down at his place. Between Leo and Riley, he had his hands full with training and caring for the pokemon. He couldn't imagine what kind of person would want six of them at a time, the training would be constant, the needs would be vastly different. Even feeding them would be a hassle. This and juggling his studies were proving a challenge for the researcher.

The interruption in his studying proved to throw him completely out of the mood. He had enough of the books tonight, and would have to return them to Elm tomorrow. The day had been humid, and Zach felt like he needed to get washed.

Deciding he had enough of being sticky, the researcher went for a shower, leaving Leo to watch over Riley. He walked into his bathroom and undressed, leaving his clothes on the counter. Turning on the water, he endured a few seconds of cold before it became a tolerable. He began to wash himself.

Then a familiar sensation crept in behind his eyes.

He leaned against the wall, rubbing his temples. Zach had been subjected to frequent headaches for most of his life. A small pounding that usually became more immense, and that it did. He turned and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes while he waited for the pain to subside.

Since he had moved to Johto they had become more frequent. Before they would come to him maybe once every few weeks, but now he was experiencing them at least twice a week. More recently, a midst the pounding in his head, he thought he could hear a faint hum with every pulse of pain. He had a theory that it was just him reacting to the warmer climate of the southern country, but he also had theories on plenty of things.

Head still pounding, he waited for a few minutes, standing with his hand on his head. He looked up towards the shower head as it continued to pour warm water on him, helding this position until the headache subsided, as they always did. Zach wanted to time them, but the pain left him unable to. They were almost incapacitating, causing Zach to be unable to focus on anything other than the throbbing. The duration of them was odd. They never lasted more than a few minutes. His mother had told him it was just remnants of the stress from his fathers passing. He thought it was a suitable explanation.

He turned off the water and dried himself off. When he stepped out of the shower he moved over to the fogged mirror and wiped the moister away. What he saw made him chuckle habitually. He had become slightly more tan in the past few weeks, and he had developed the beginnings of bags under his eyes. He needed sleep, and sleep he was going to get. Hopefully.

"Busy day tomorrow," Zach muttered to himself as he entered his bed room. He removed his towel and put on a pair of boxers. The spring heat of this new temperate country had taught him the valuable lesson of wearing as little as possible when possible. Before he got into bed to took a head count.

Riley laid curled up with Leo on the floor next to the bed, as guilty as Zach felt he knew he had to get the pichu used to roughing it. His real training would have to start as soon as it could, in even the smallest forms. He was going to be a fine edition to his team once he grew into a pikachu. A fast, smart, and deadly companion.

Pulling his sheets over him, Zach closed his eyes and waited patiently for sleep to fall over him. After an hour of tossing and turning, he finally felt its embrace.

He did not sleep well that night. Throughout the night his thoughts raced with the repeated images of fire and lightening flashing before him. Constantly reoccurring in front of him like a broken image. This lasted a few hours, but to Zach it felt like only moments. At last, the dream had changed. In the final moments of his slumber the dream molded into something he could perceive.

_In front of him was a large city sitting on the coast, the southern ocean cast itself far beyond Zach's perception. Within an instant the sky became a hideous dark layer of swirling clouds that engulfed the tips of the numerous skyscrapers that were cast erratically within the make believe city line. With the dark cast of the scenery came a chilling wind that washed over Zach like a ghost's embrace, chilling him to his core. _

_He breathed slowly despite the chaos that enveloped the scene before him. An odd sense of calm filed him, his heart did not race, nor did he sweat. Not until he saw a spark light in the city._

_Through the mist of his visible breath he saw the city begin to catch ablaze, and, in an instant, the entire town had taken the scene of a hellish landscape. Houses burned to the ground, large obsidian structures began to crumble beneath the matte clouds, which had begun to cover the city with a torrent of rain. _

_When the downpour came, the fire did not yield. As the rain made contact with the warm ground, and the fire that forked out of each structure, steam began to rise up. In moments the city had become enveloped in a thin mist that rose into the air from the heat._

_Then came the booming of thunder, roaring over Zach like a freight train. Flashes of lightening took over the scene, and Zach had to raise his arm to cover his eyes. From the peripherals of his poorly shaded vision was the constant flashing of the sky, sending forks of lightening against the skyscrapers as they began to collapse. One at a time, they fell, sending no clouds of dust from their foundation as they crumbled in on themselves._

_From above the overpowering thunder and the cry of the frozen wind came a voice that echoed into the front of his mind. For a moment it sounded distant, as if it was on the other end of the ocean the city sat against. "Stop them," it said calmly. _

_An eerie and high pitched sound emitted in the distance, sounding like the combination of a scream and a train whistle before the dark clouds rushed forward towards Zach, and the voice boomed a second time. "**STOP THEM**." _

Zach awoke that morning in a cold sweat, breathing the air heavily. His eyes scanned the room that had been painted orange, through his window, by the rising sun. Casting the long shadow of Riley, who laid comfortably on top of Zach's dresser against the window, across the room. Zach sat up slowly, steadying his breathing as his mind raced with the images he had just born witness to. He raised himself on the bed and leaned his back against its headboard, running his hand across his forehead to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Leo stood in the doorway, scanning Zach and slowly wagging his tail. Zach looked back at him for a moment. "I'm fine, bud," he said quietly to the leafeon. "It was just a nightmare."

At once the pokemon moved across the room towards Zach's bed, resting his chin on the sheets. Zach scratched him between his ears, feeling the light scratching of the mossy texture of his fur. Sounding a heavy sigh, he removed the blankets to stand up.

"I guess I can't dwell on it, we have more important things today." Zach told his pokemon who looked at him with minimal understanding of his words. For the most part a well trained leafeon was able to read a situation by it's own intuition alone, only selectively knowing a few words of the common language.

Zach took another quick shower to wash the sweat off himself, the scenery of his dream clinging to the front of his mind's eye like a blanket.

Once he got out of the shower and gotten dressed, he sat down on the couch in his living room, filtering through his field equipment through the advice of a list Elm had provided for him. Leo sat next to him, eyeing the various tools that were scattered across the table. When he heard the sound of something falling in the room he left to investigate. Playing big brother to the pichu had seemed to occupy a lot of the leafeon's time.

"Let's see," Zach mumbled to himself. "Flashlight, med kit, field rations, rubber gloves, hunting knife and water canteen." He took a moment to look over the list, his brow furrowing. "Body armour?" he asked himself out loud as he read over the list. "Where would I even find that?" He sighed as he placed the list onto the table. "Anything short of gym grade wouldn't even stop a rattatta's bite." He looked at his leg and grimaced at the thought of a rodents teeth sinking into the flesh. "Maybe it would be better than nothing," he admitted.

Putting the idea of armour into the back of his mind, he stood and sorted through the equipment he felt best suited the mission he and Elm would be embarking on that day. Preparing rations for an over night assignment.

He whistled for Leo, who came around the corner with his usual stoic demeanor. Glancing around the room before sitting on his haunches, he looked at Zach as if asking if it was time to leave.

"Just one more thing," he said as he moved across the room and dug into one of the many bags of luggage. He produced a sleeping bag and tied it on the bottom end of his pack. Had it gone on the top it would hamper his ability to go prone at a moments notice, a small trick he had picked up years ago.

The final addition to his outfit, which consisted of jeans, running shoes, a white shirt and black hoodie, was the knife he strapped to his belt. The sizable blade sat in its holster, the black handle not protruding enough to catch on any foliage.

He grabbed a pokeball from his desk and moved into his room, retrieving the small mouse that had begun to chew at the leg of his bed. Shaking his head, he put the ball inside his unzipped jacket, a magnetic slab holding it in place.

Everything was ready, he threw the bag over his shoulders and moved through the door, Leo in toe. The rest of the day would be on the field.

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><p><strong>Short chapter, but don't get used to that. The average length for each chapter will be double this one. I consider this fluff, but necessary. <strong>

**Thanks to those who read, favourited and followed. **


	3. Tribulations

**Hello and welcome back. I've decided it would be better for me to put my authors notes at the end of my chapters so I can reflect on them to you. Thank you to Zelcore for your reviews and telling me what you like about the story, and thank you to those who have followed.**

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><p>"Okay, Zach," Elm said, enthusiastically, the moment his assistant walked through the doors. "I'll get you briefed as soon as I finish packing." He ducked out of Zach's line of sight behind the pile of boxes that closed off his desk from the rest of the laboratory. He momentarily poked his head out to wish Zach a good morning as a considerate afterthought.<p>

Zach simply nodded and moved towards his desk. The textbooks and pencils that scattered it were the remnants of last nights war to cram as much info about the local wildlife before they left. He could recall most of the important information, which was supplemented by two weeks of cramming.

He sat, scanning the lab, which was devoid of any of his other coworkers. Not a single shadow, of any human, was cast by the still rising sun, which filtered its early morning light into the lab through the eastern windows.

Zach let out a yawn, making sure to keep it quiet so the professor wouldn't hear him. Although his dream still flickered through his mind, he needed to focus. The field was no place to be distracted and the very essence of caution was required.

He reached into his bag, producing his quick breakfast, of a rice roll, and split a bit off for Riley, who had emerged from his pokeball and sat still on Zach's shoulder, much to his surprise, and relief.

Elm emerged after a few minutes, stuffing papers into his bag and checking his watch. "Ok," he breathed. "We have two objectives today. There's a group of sentret I want to check on." He now stood in the middle of the lab, his long shadow casting across the spotless white floor. "I've been tracking them for a few weeks and I'm certain their mating season is coming up." He paused for a moment, losing his train of thought as a single chart flew out of the mess of paper which were absentmindedly crammed into his satchel. He quickly picked it up, scaned the paper to see what it was, and began to organize his bag. "We'll then head west to work maintenance on some sensors. Since that trip is halfway to Cherrygrove we'll stop for the night and return in the morning." Elm ran his hands through his brown hair, releasing a large breath of air before smiling. "It'll be a bit of a trip. You up for it?"

Zach grinned. He finished the last bite of his breakfast before he stood. "Yes, sir," he said confidently.

"Good. Since we were on the field in Sinnoh I expect we'll have little trouble communicating," Elm said, adjusting the straps on his backpack. He frowned. "I do have a word of warning."

Zach didn't say anything, only cocking an eyebrow at his boss.

Elm cleared his throat. "I picked up some weird signatures on the radar. It looks like skarmory are coming down from the mountains. We should have nothing to worry about, but be aware that Leo can't do much to them."

Zach nodded in confirmation. "Any idea why they've come so far south?"

Elm shook his head, his face growing into a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Not a clue. I'll look into it once we get these sensors maintained." He looked at his watch. "If we want to get to them and be done by nightfall, we need to get moving."

Without another word, Zach shouldered his bag, returned Riley, and moved for the front door with his boss and his Pokemon in toe.

SC

"They should be right up here," Elm said quietly. This was the first thing Elm had said since they left New Bark. It was smart to say as little as possible when outside of the walls as to not attract any attention. This was the first time Zach had gone out with Elm, although he was surprised the opportunity rose so quickly. He wasn't expecting a chance for field work only a couple weeks after his arrival.

They both moved quietly through the rocky terrain. Steadily making their way up the mountain forest to the north of town. The sentret's mating ground was coming close. He was certain that their mating season was coming up soon, and he wanted to be there to document their rituals and behaviors. Of course Zach was brought along as a second pair of eyes as well as a body guard for the professor, such was his job.

Professors were not always esteemed Pokemon trainers, they couldn't always defend themselves. Only the legendary Professor Oak held the status of both reigning professor and accomplished trainer. He had saved his small town of Pallet from being wiped off the map multiple times thanks to the power of his companions, and his ability to inspire the minds of many young people in the tiny valley town. It was no secret that Pallet had become known as a producer of strong and enthusiastic trainers. Giving rise to some of the finest trainers in the Kanto region. Oak was a man who could inspire.

Zach had come to learn that Elm idolized his former teacher. He had frequently fallen victim to the enthusiastic droning of Elm speaking highly of Oaks theories and debating them with his own. They had often moved their conversations to the pub for a few drinks while they discussed, in depth, their own theories on how and why Pokemon evolved. Of course Elm's theories drove Zach's into the ground. There was a reason Elm was a rising star in the scientific community and Zach was just an assistant.

They moved silently, keeping themselves low and hidden. There was no such thing as being too careful when on the field with a professor. Although Elm had not yet received the status of reigning professor of the Johtan province, his contributions to the research of Pokemon were irrefutably important. With those considerations aiding the assistants motivation, Zach took his job extremely seriously. His entire demeanor changed when he was protecting his boss. He rarely spoke, and his concentration was as strong as a rock. The corrosion of time and dull tasks did nothing to break that focus.

Zach adjusted the straps of his travel kit, tightening them around his shoulders as the heavy bag swayed on his back in his crouched position. He looked behind him at Leo, who was following the contingent up the mountain as they drew closer to their destination, his tail unfolded and held against his back, ready to strike at any moment. They had moved twenty minutes north. Leaving the town looking like little more than a decoration, on a seaside cliff, from the elevated terrain of the route they had taken. They had since left behind the deciduous forest, only passing by single standing coniferous foliage.

Finally, they had reached their destination, which was a small pocket of trees. Both Elm and Zach took a prone position as they inched their way closer to the spot. Leo did the same, but with far more ease thanks to his evolutionary advantage. They laid motionless in the grass, remaining hidden from the skittish rodents. Which had become redundant once they both noticed there were no sentret to be seen. Not so much as a burrow had been made in the area.

"I wonder if we're too early," Elm muttered to himself. After a few moments of looking out into the miniature forest, he sighed and removed his pack and produced a spreadsheet. His eyes darted around over the piece of paper, his mouth tightening as he did so. Frustrated, he lowered the paper and looked back out towards the trees. "They should have been here for at least a week," he hissed.

Not a single movement was seen. Elm had anticipated the area to be crawling with mating sentret. Wanting to observe and gather data on their habits. His impatience was understandable, sentret were a common species, and having not seen something so abundant do something so simple was baffling.

Zach scanned the clearing. Paying less attention to his surroundings now since Leo's senses greatly outdid his. When he looked into the clearing he saw only the rays of light from the sun beaming through the tops of the trees. The opportunity was simply missed.

Zach had thought the outing had been odd. They had not seen so much as a pidgey since they left the town, a Pokemon that was usually in abundance. Even sentret were seen often, scampering around the forest floor and through the mountain. Something in the ecosystem had changed, driving the Pokemon out of the mountains. "What would cause this?" he asked himself, expecting no answer from the professor.

He was right in that regard. His answer did not come from Elm, but from something far more haunting. His answer came from up the mountain, echoing through the rocks like a wave of nightmares. Blood curdling screams filled the air. The sounds of a man meeting a terrible fate. His voice carried through the rocks and the trees, being unmistakable in its source. Someone had stumbled upon the apex predator of the route. Something that could easily kill a man. A screech rang through the mountain, its sound had a metallic ring to it, as though the high frequency call had been resonating inside a metal chamber.

Elm's complexion went pale and sweat was visible on his brow. Zach remained motionless on the ground, doing not so much as turn his head to look for the source. The mind numbing fear that entered him had become a handicap, and he found himself unable to move for fear that whatever was responsible for such flagrancy would have descended on them too. The screaming was becoming increasingly muffled and gargling. This predator did not kill clean.

After a few haunting seconds the sound subsided when the screaming simply cut out just as soon as it had began. For a few moments the silence almost seemed to have a weight, not so much as a birds call accompanied them. The distracting sounds still echoed through their minds. It was not something so easily forgotten. This project would have to be cut short.

A minute passed, but to Zach it felt far longer, the tension of the moment being carried in his mind like a tarp covering his senses. He was almost paralyzed with fear. He had never experienced it before, not even when he came near death. Physical threats were one thing for Zach, he had his endurance and fortitude, but a mental assault was an entirely different issue. Even Elm didn't seem to be used to the sound.

"Time to move," Elm said in a whisper as he slowly and carefully raised himself, glancing around in every direction. As they packed the paper into Elm's satchel, Leo began to circle the group, his tail raised over his back in a position to strike at any moment.

Within moments they were on the move. Traveling, hastily southwest, down the mountain. They sacrificed safety for speed. Periodically the group would stop and take a crouching position as they scanned the terrain behind them. Whatever had killed that man had been distant, but if it was aviary then that meant distance wasn't much of a factor. During one of these stops, Zach decided he wanted to ask Elm what his thoughts on it were, but the professor simply replied with "Take a guess."

Zach immediately made the connection, for the rest of the trip he included the skies in his constant sweeping of their surroundings. Looking for the sun to glint off a steel carapace overhead. The new question was the identity of the victim.

Zach remained silent, pushing the questions, of who the man might have been, to the back of his mind. He dared not break his concentration, anything could happen at any second, and he would be damned if it was in the single moment he was distracted.

SC

They continued to trudge through the wilderness for the rest of the day, only being accompanied by the low lying branches of the trees, which extended like large men reaching out their hands to point out the way for the travelers. After a few hours Elm came to a stop and scanned the forest around them, he pocketed his compass and produced a map from his bag.

The professor raised the paper in order to move it out of the blanket of shadows that the high rising trees cast over the group. Zach took the other end of the map, allowing the large sheet to be held with more convenience.

Elm looked over the map and sighed, placing his finger on a section of it. "We're here," he explained. "and these sensors are here." He pointed to another part of the map that was exceptionally distant from where the group currently stood. He took the map from Zach and folded it, putting it into his satchel before he began to scan to trees around them. "Honestly, we might have to do it tomorrow," he sighed. "Lets look for a place to set up camp."

"I remember a good place a few minutes back," Zach said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. "I remember it having a good branch hanging over it so Leo can have a look-out perch, and ditches if we need to hide."

Elm smiled and smacked Zach on the shoulder as he walked past him, his grin growing as he started to speak. "I knew I was on the right track when I hired you, but there's no need for those ditches, if something was going to find us the fire would be a dead giveaway."

"Don't you think it's a bit warm for a fire, sir?" Zach asked hesitantly, not wanting to come off as impudent.

As they both began to move to a clearing Zach had pointed out, Elm retorted, pulling a branch out of the path to make for easier passage. "You're not used to this climate yet," Elm stated "Once you adapt to the heat, you'll find the night can get pretty chilly. Honestly be glad you didn't move to Hoenn." Elm stopped in his tracks, his face twisting into a surprised shock upon seeing the large claw marks on the trees that surrounded them.

Zach continued, unaware of his boss's trepidation. "Isn't there a conf-"

The conversation was cut short when Leo let out a single bark, raising his tail to his back. Elm and Zach crouched, moving back in order to close distance with the Pokemon. They scanned the trees, the darkening forest seemed to close around them as the sun began to settle. A few seconds passed, and nothing was heard in the forest around them. Only the sounds of distant chirping accompanied them.

The silence was broken by the sound of a small tree being toppled, crashing to the ground like a falling giant. When it landed it presented the culprit, a large bipedal Pokemon. It stood staring at the group, its eyes dark as the night. It let forward a loud roar, its mouth beginning the fainted signs of energy build up. When the small head of the massive Pokemon lurched forward, a hyper beam flew from the monsters maw, reducing any trees in its wake to nothing.

Zach's eyes widened and he spun around and lunged immediately at Elm, toppling the professor over onto the ground. When the two hit the forest floor, the force of the energy from the beam's impact flung them a few meters, creating a large crater where they had stood a moment before.

The large bulking animal stood for a while, panting at the expense of its energy. It made a slow approach to the two prone figures, who were preoccupied with gathering their senses. Its large bulk being carried on two short legs.

A beige blur flew past it, and it roared in pain. The brown fur on its broad shoulder began to soak with blood, matting down the fur as it ran down its arm slowly. Leo landed behind it, barking his challenge to the bear. In an instant it turned, bringing its large arm around to strike the fox. The movement, slowed slightly by its new injury, required a grunt of effort from the Pokemon.

Leo jumped out of the way of the attack, a large cloud of dirt and leaves exploding, behind him, from the impact of the large hand. He landed in a wide stance, raising his tail and exposing the jagged tail over his head, its sharp edges coated with the faintest hint of crimson from his initial attack.

"Shit," Zach whispered, rising to his feet. He staggered a bit, holding himself up against a tree while he watched the large mass of fur move in on the leafeon. He reached for Elm's hand, helping the professor to his feet before leading him into a run through the forest."Leo!" he called "We're leaving!"

Immediately, the leafeon spun around and took the run with them. bounding beside them at a distance, leaping over logs and dodging trees as he flew by them.

From behind him, Zach heard another roar. Through his still gathering cognizance he heard the loud ringing of energy and his heart jumped into his throat, bringing his awareness back in an instant.

He swiftly changed his direction, pulling Elm along with him. Where they stood not seconds before, the forest exploded, a blinding light illuminating the forest. Zach screamed and dropped to his knee as he felt a sharp impact bed itself into his shoulder. He swore silently to himself, looking back to find a shard of wood embedded in his flesh.

Elm, now leaning against a tree, in which he slammed into to save himself from the stagger the explosion had forced him into, looked back briefly to catch the sight of his injured assistant. He pushed himself off of the oak, approaching Zach and holding a hand out to him. The gesture was interrupted by the deep bellowing roar from the, now charging, ursaring.

Through the dark forest floor, it kicked up sticks and leaves as it ran, leaving behind footprints the size of Zach's head, not including the three large claws. Zach sucked in a deep breath before the Pokemon could close the final distance, he lunged forward, diving out of the way of the Pokemon's charge. Elm, jumped back with is youthful agility, he'd been in similar situations to this before, Zach deducted.

It grabbed a tree, using the momentum to help swing itself around, but it used the shoulder Leo had wounded and it winced, taking a moment to deal with the pain that shot through its body. Zach pulled the knife from his belt and dodged to the other end of the tree it stood next to. Taking a moment to time it right, he struck, digging the knife deep into the back of the distracted ursaring's leg. Without hesitation he pulled it to the side, cutting the Pokemon's hamstrings. Zach felt the burning pain shoot through his arm and back as the irritated wound hollered in its need for attention.

The Ursaring roared in pain, dropping to its knee. It attempted to hold itself up, but its shoulder wound began to send the matting of its fur down to its belly. The behemoth fell onto the forest floor over the weakened support.

Leo emerged from the forest, jumping over the wounded Pokemon's head and landing on its back. In wasting no time, he began his assault, slashing the back of the Pokemon's neck, furiously, with his tail. Each swing brought a new gash, increasing the number of leaking lacerations across the Ursarings neck and shoulders. The Pokemon writhed, reaching behind its shoulder, but the agile fox only leaped off of it.

As it landed, he immediately prepared to go back on top of the bear. His intention was to cut the major artery Zach had taught him each Pokemon possessed, but as soon as he left the ground, the bear rolled over on its side, raising its good paw and connecting with the Leafeon's underside. From the impact, Leo flew back, impacting a tree with a whack that made Zach's heart drop.

He stood for a second, observing if his Pokemon was going to make it, but his attention snapped when he heard the building of energy. The bears mouth opened, and the faint ringing began to build, gaining its energy to deliver the killing blow to Zach's Pokemon. Zach gripped his knife and dashed around the tree.

Zach was not a violent or cruel man, but he could not deny the urgency of the situation. He saw two options, and neither of them appealed to the young research assistant. In the split second he was in movement, he had to make a decision. Deprive the bear of oxygen, or take the more direct attack. One would leave the Ursaring alive long enough to get the hyper beam ready and his Leafeon would be dead. Zach had to put his morals aside, and he would need to take the more direct attack.

Ignoring the pain that screamed at him through his shoulder, Zach drove his knife forward, penetrating the pokemon's eye. When the knife glided into the Ursaring's socket, its hyper beam undeveloped in its mouth. It reared back, moving as far back as its injuries would allow it. When it lurched back, Zach withdrew the knife and brought it in again with a scream, producing a thick flow of crimson down the Pokemon's face.

He stopped for a moment, observing, in a panic, the state of his assailant. Its single eye looked into Zach's, its energy draining from it. Zach took the knife out again, the Pokemon's slack body falling onto the ground with a thud.

He stood over the body of the enormous Pokemon, observing the wounds the two of them had inflicted to it during the fight. He never took pride in killing a Pokemon, but he was also never one to question exigency.

Somberly, he turned his head. Watching Leo slowly bring himself to a stand. The Pokemon simply shook off the hit, his eyes scanning the scene. This Pokemon was capable of taking a good beating every now and then, but this was a threat they had never encountered, and it might have been the end of him. Zach took a note to ask Elm about this species, as it was never mentioned in his research.

Once Leo saw Zach, he trotted forwards, bringing himself up to meet his trainer in celebration. His ears fell back against his head, and his tail flickered relentlessly as he sniffed Zach.

Calling the Pokemon down, he ordered him to check for any more threats. He turned to Elm, who emerged from the bushes. The professor produced his glasses from his pocket, eyeing the Ursaring up and down.

Through a heavy breath, Elm sighed. "I wasn't expecting one of those," he said. "I'm sorry you had to do that. Ursaring usually stay in the mountains."

The assistant ran his hand through his hair, feeling the moisture of the collected sweat. Zach grimaced and his hand shot to his shoulder as if he was shot. Zach immediately fell his his knees, the grip on his shoulder tightening when the presence of the wooden shard made itself abundantly clear.

"Ok," Elm said sternly. "That's priority. Let me fix you up and set up camp."

"We can't stay here," Zach groaned, looking over the large carcass that laid, face first, beside a large tree. "What if they travel in pairs?

"They do," Elm said. "I never said we were staying here." Elm crouched down, putting Zach's injured arm around his neck, and carried him.

Zach, bringing himself to bare the pain, that shot through his neck and back, ordered Leo to do a perimeter check in case of the second Ursaring.

After Leo had made sure the area was safe, they pressed on, eventually coming to a very small break in the bushes and trees. The area only had enough space for a fire and the two adults, but it would do. Elm ordered Zach to lay down, producing a bed sheet from his bag. He laid it down, and Zach laid face down on top of it.

Elm produced tweezers, disinfectant, stitches, and gauze. He went to work on dealing with the wound. It took an hour to complete the process. He removed the splinters and immediately put the disinfectant to work. After the wound was cleaned it was stitched up and bandaged. Zach hated every minute of it, but he did not protest. He said very little during the procedure, but he couldn't help but reminisce about his old life in Sinnoh, were he would receive this kind of treatment from another coworker.

"You know," Zach chuckled. "This was usually Dawn's job. Rowan never got his hands dirty with the medical supplies."

Elm simply grunted. "You two seemed close, I guess you two have been through a lot?"

Zach simply grunted in confirmation, wincing when Elm began the stitching. "He insisted the both of us accompany him whenever he did field work. I guess he wanted to show Dawn how he worked for when she takes over his lab." He winced again when the needle entered his flesh again. "She had to patch me up a lot. Out of the two of us I was the stupid one who got injured all the time. Did I tell you about the time with the Nidoking?

"I was there, Zach," Elm said, failing to check to condescension in his voice.

When the procedure was done, Zach took a moment before raising himself up. He staggered over towards a tree and sat against it, being careful not to agitate his bandages. He produced his dinner from his bag, and Leo's rations.

Leo took his rations, of nuts and dried meat, and climbed up a tree behind Zach. Once he had found a branch that sat over the group, he rested on it, slowly eating at his rations as he continuously twitched his ears around.

Zach reached into his jacket and released Riley. This would be the first time Zach had seen the Pichu outside of the lab or his house, and he wanted to get him used to the field. The security of the camp fire would be a good place to start. Even if the young Pokemon decided to stay inside Zach's jacket.

"Zach. What you did back there." he motioned into the forest, whither or not it was the direction the conflict took place wasn't important. "I'm impressed. I've never seen that kind of display."

Zach simply looked into the fire. "We've been doing this for a long time," he said flatly. Elm looked up at the Leafeon with an amused confusion. "I thought I remember hearing that Leafeon were pacifistic," he mused.

Zach, taking the time to swallow his food, glanced up briefly at Leo before looking across the fire to Elm. "He usually is, but he's been trained by me since I was eight." Zach paused for a moment, looking above him to his companion, remembering their long training sessions in the Eterna City gym. "He knows how to fight, and he takes advantage of that." Zach's mouth opened to say something else, but he stopped himself, raising a spoon full of beans to his mouth with his good arm. "Their tails are naturally serrated, I can't imagine they are too susceptible to threats."

"I think giving you that Pichu was a good investment then. He'll be a good team member when he grows into a Pikachu. Think you can handle him?"

Zach, feeling the cold metal of the pokeball inside his jacket, swallowed another spoonful of beans before responding. "Their growth rate is accelerated by a close bond, right?"

Elm, quickly swallowing his food to answer, coughed once before answering. "Serotonin stimulates the growth hormones, yes. Be careful, though. If he grows too fast he'll become too powerful before he evolves. That might kill him."

"So, what do you think? Train him to be effective with his electricity or teach him to withstand the volts?" he asked enthusiastically, growing excited about having a new team member.

"Well, he'd need to know how to handle his own electricity. That's a good place to start," Elm said as he produced many documents from his pack, laying them over his bedroll. He began to read over them silently, taking down the occasional note as he went. Zach sat quietly for the next hour, watching the forest around them slowly dim before being lit only by their fire.

Zach sat with his leg outstretched and his arm falling over his knee. He watched the flames dance and flicker in their place, as if they wanted to escape their containment. He recounted what he read about Pikachu in Elm's research, knowing he would have to train its speed and stamina to be effective.

Elm sat crossed legged on the ground, his bed-roll sprawled out in front of him like a carpet. The red bed-roll was covered in charts Elm had produced that morning before Zach had arrived at the lab.

"Professor, I need to ask you something," Zach said abruptly.

"Oh? Sure. Go ahead," Elm raised his gaze from his papers for the first time since they had set up their camp.

"You knew me in Eterna City. You were acquainted with professor Rowan and my mother. You had the choice between Dawn or I. She's an absolute genius. Surely she would have had more value to your research. And her Pokemon," Zach emphasized by holding his fist up. "Strong. Like nothing I have ever seen." He lowered his fist and brought his knees to his chest, being careful not to agitate his wound. "Yet, here I am." He paused for a moment before delivering his closing statement. "I just would like to know the absolute reason... sir," he added at the last moment, not wanting to be disrespectful.

Elm simply snorted out a laugh. "I don't think Rowan would have appreciated me taking his only granddaughter to the frontier," he joked. "I would say you demonstrated the answer today, but I know you're looking for an answer deeper than that." He paused, conceptualizing his next words. "Zach, Dawn might be smart, but she doesn't possess your mulishness. After Rowan had told me about how you saved his life in Eterna forest I knew for sure. Even when he was tied up in a cabin in the middle of the forest, you didn't give up. That's what I admire about you," He pushed his glasses closer to his face, the fire reflecting off of it like a well cleaned mirror. "How did you guys find him again? Tire marks?"

"Tire marks," Zach said, almost at the same time as Elm, his head nodding and a proud grin crossing his features. He sat for a moment, contemplating his next sentence."Honestly, sir. Dawn was the one who devised the plan to save him."

"Yes, but Rowan was her family. Anyone would have done that for their family, but you still went with her to help. You're loyal, and also stubborn," he held up his hand to Zach. "D-don't take that the wrong way," he shuddered. When he chuckled nervously, Zach had remembered just how young Elm was, and he was well on his way to being the countries leading professor. He continued, "You don't give up. You poke at a problem until you get through it, and then the answer is clear to you. I need people like that," as Elm's enthusiasm built, he became more animated, his words being emphasized by every hand gesture Zach could imagine. "I need people like that out here if I want me and my lab to be recognized as Johto's leading Pokemon research authority, and I am so close, Zach." His face held a grimace, "So close! I can just sense it." He sat for a moment, looking at his assistant, who's eyes fell continuously between the fire and his professor. "Do you know what it is I want to achieve?"

"Domestic breeding," Zach answered.

"We have domestic breeding, Zach. Johto's not as advanced as Sinnoh or the other countries, but we at least have that," Elm chuckled, placating his condescending tone. "No. My thesis includes breeding methods on Pokemon who are actually valuable as battlers. I want people to be able to have their own powerful Pokemon without risking their lives in the wild to get one, or having to tame a feral. It would make life a lot easier out here. Hell, everywhere. Sinnoh wouldn't have to spend so much money on patrolling the routes because more people would be able to defend themselves. Settlements out here would be able to defend themselves better." He sat back, laying on the cold ground as he put his hands behind his back. "I think it would be the greatest advancement in human security since the pokedex." He sighed, "I'm surprised it took us this long to analyze the stimuli required, but we're close." He sat quietly for a moment in reflection. "That Electabuzz proves that Pokemon can be raised by humans and still be powerful."

Zach sat quietly as he absorbed Elm's words. It was true that the world needed what Elm was striving for. Pokemon roamed the world in every corner, and most of them were extremely dangerous, leaving humans to fight for their very existence on the planet.

"How did you get Riley then?" Zach pressed, seeing the hole in his logic.

Elm's face grew into a frown. "Before I went to Sinnoh, I paid a visit to professor Oak. He and I went into the Viridian forest for old time's sake. We found a nest. The mother passed during the birth, and he was exposed. So I brought him back to my lab."

Zach only blinked. Understanding, about how important this Pichu was to Elm, dawning on him. There was a bond there, and he wanted to ask why Elm didn't give him to his son, but he pushed it into the back of his mind.

Elm sat silent for a moment. "I'm calling it a night now. Wake me if anything else tries to eat us," he joked. Before he pulled the sleeping bag over him, he looked at Zach. "We're still pretty close to the mountain, so please be careful about what you do."

A few hours passed, and Zach remained still the entire time. He would have loved to sleep, but the thoughts of last nights dream, combined with the screaming they heard earlier, had denied him of any rest. He sat with his eyes closed, hoping that sleep would take him at any moment. Eventually, after a long stare into the surrounding tree line, he began to doze off.

SC

Through the thick underbrush of the forest, a figure moved. It glided over twigs and silently rustled leaves as it undulated towards its target. As it moved, a Hoot-hoot frenzied out of its path, knowing for certain this Pokemon meant death.

Following its mark, it navigated through the dark forest. Its eyes maintaining its focus on the fire that emanated its glow like a beacon, drawing the snake to it like a hunter who found it too easy to track his target.

It's long body stopped moving as it reached a thick bush that separated itself from its prey. It only hesitated for a moment before raising the front half of its body, pushing its long and slender head through the bushes with a slight rustling. Its eyes scanned the scene, two humans laid asleep, one in a sleeping bag and the other exposed to the elements against a tree. It began to slither forwards before a quiet voice ordered otherwise.

"Not yet. Let the fail safe go ahead first," it mussed in a silent, calm, and masculine voice. The Seviper retracted its head before returning to its trainer's side.

He looked into the trees, a small smile crossing his face as he watched yellow spores float gently from the trees that hung over the sleeping contingent like a canopy.

The fox-like Pokemon, which stood guard on top of one of the low lying branches, went slack, it's head slumping against the tree as ts muscles quickly ceased up, it's eyes shoot wide for a moment before every part of it's body became stiff.

"A Leafeon?" the man asked himself. He somberly chuckled, shaking his head and reaching for the crossbow on his back, slowly undoing the straps that held it in place. _'Of course we run into the only other Sinnoean in this shit hole of a country'_ he thought as he raised his weapon to the paralyzed animal.

He froze his action when he heard the stirring of the man, who laid against the tree, over the seven foot tall bush. He lowered his weapon and reached for a pokeball just in case, but he smiled when the heard the sound of the spores entering the fire, signaling they had touched the ground. Everyone in the camp was immobilized, just as planned.

He looked up into the tree, bringing the crossbow around him as he smiled, looking at two sapphire eyes peering back at him from the branches. He held his hand in a fist, ordering a hold in action.

Pulling a bandanna over his mouth and nose, he stepped through the bush, his large serpent following behind him. When it emerged it hovered over Elm, and it's large bladed tail still lurked behind the bush. Wincing, he quickly withdrew the Pokemon, not wanting to stir any of the spores and paralyzing it, the last thing he wanted in this operation was for his strongest Pokemon to be unusable.

Checking the situation, he watched the faces of both people struggle as their eyes fluttered beneath their lids, unable to open them. He drew his attention towards the surrounding bush once he realized that only a wild Pokemon would be a threat at this point.

A single pokeball dropped from the tree and filled the area with the brilliant light of the Pokemon breaching it's containment. The vulpine and skinny humanoid stepped out of the white light, standing with the fire between it and Zach; the red crystal in its dead flickered with the flames. The Kadabra scanned for its trainer, but settled when it spotted the black haired man standing next to the immobilized Elm.

Following the Pokemon, a girl climbed down from the trees, her hair as equally black as her partners. He gave her a maniacal grin, to which she hesitantly returned.

"Grab the professor and let's go. I don't want to be here when this one wakes u-" he stopped himself, snapping his fingers in a moment of inspiration. The spores on the ground had likely lost their effect when they found no muscle tissue.

He threw his pokeball behind the bush, waiting for the light to dissipate as his Seviper poked its head through, his attention instantly falling on his trainer.

The man pointed to Zach. "I'll be back in a few minutes, and I want to see a nice mess when I come back," he said, grinning when the snake nodded in the affirmative.

He looked over to the girl he was with, and motioned towards her Kadabra. Without a word she gestured for the Pokemon to approach her, which it obeyed without hesitation. She took its hand and touched the shoulder of professor Elm, receiving a frantic grunt of disapproval from their prisoner. In a second, the four of them vanished in a thinning fissure that seemed to split the air, producing a small shock wave from the portal.

With that, the only ones left at the campfire were Zach, Leo, and the monstrous snake which slithered closer to its prey.

* * *

><p><strong>I've finally decided to push the plot forward. Hurray! Please note that I'm approaching Pokemon as animals, not monsters that will try to kill any human they see. It might not seem that way so far, but it will happen.<strong>

** I also want to say that I am taking some liberties with the lore, character's ages and pokedex information.**

**Again thank you to those who have shown their support for my first fanfiction. It means a lot. **


	4. In Need

**Thank you to those who have followed and favourited, and thank you to Metal Dargon for bringing up some good questions that made me delve deeper into the time line for this story. Check out his story _Sacrifice and __Subjugation_, it's a good one. So big shout out to him.**

* * *

><p>Leaves and twigs snapped underneath the large serpent as it made its slow approach towards Zach. Its fangs dripping with toxic fluids that hissed when they impacted the ground, instantly corroding any underbrush that made contact with the liquid.<p>

The field assistant had, by this point, gained the ability to open his eyes. The last thing he saw was the fissure of air when some thing teleported away. That was all he had to go on, teleportation and paralysis. Those two factors would be useful to him if he were to survive this situation and find Elm. Although the odds of him surviving at this point seemed moot.

The seviper lowered its head to meet Zach's gaze, swaying it slowly back and forth as if to examine its meal. It opened it's maw slightly, revealing a set of smaller teeth that occupied it's mouth beyond it's two forearm sized fangs. A slow hiss started from its mouth, producing a cloud of fowl breath that felt like it burned Zach's face. The assistant closed his eyes, hoping to avoid being blinded in this situation.

When his eyes opened again, he saw the bladed tail of the snake rise above its head. The pokemon had pointed it at the man's chest, twisting and turning it as if to find the best method of piercing his heart without spoiling his flesh with poisons.

Zach's heart began to race in his chest. His mind screamed at him to move, every part of the evolutionary experience of his ancestors told him to leave, to run, but that was out of the question. Zach had heard the worst way to die was paralysis from a pokemon, be it from being slowly devoured or asphyxiating from a diaphragm unable to expand.

The seviper gave what Zach might have translated at the serpent's equivalent of a grin before thrusting the poisonous tail forward. Zach's eyes wired shut the instant the tail moved.

SC

Adrian looked at his watch and sighed .

12:08

He and his wife had been walking down the poorly paved road since dinner time, a time that would seem odd to most people, but Adrian preferred to sleep under the stars with the protection of his pokemon. Even when he was young he would prefer to sleep at the top of the seaside cliff that bordered New Bark and the Johtan Sea. The fresh air always made him feel calm.

He looked over to Amy, her light brown hair matched her amber eyes magnificently, to him she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and it was without doubt that she was attractive. Her hair was kept just past her shoulders, only touching the shoulder pads of her black body armour, the same brand that Adrian wore over his grey hoodie.

"What time is it?" Amy asked, noting his glance at the wristwatch.

He took a moment to scan the treeline with his flashlight before he answered. "Just after midnight. We should set up camp soon."

Amy turned her flashlight onto the tops of the trees that surrounded the road, catching the peak of a mountain over it's barrier. "Do you know a good place to set up camp around here?

Adrian scoffed. "Do I?" he repeated. "Do ya' know how often I went out here while I was trainin'?"

Amy's eyes softened and her voice held a chuckle. "At least every chance you got."

"Exactly, babe," he said, no tone of confidence absent. "You have the best quilava in the Indigo Leagues and a man who knows where he's goin'. Not even Koga could follow me through this route. We couldn't get lost even if we tried."

Amy glanced out to the road in front of them, her flashlight losing its usefulness against the seemingly eternal darkness. "You... do know this road goes straight for miles, right?"

Adrian's smile faded and he gave his wife a quick glance before returning his attention back to the trees. "That was a joke," he said, disappointed that she had shot it down.

Amy smiled and took her hand in his, locking their fingers. "Let's worry about jokes when we set up camp, ok?" she said with a radiant smile.

"Honestly, tonight's been pretty calm and safe, I think we could get away with a camp further from the road tonight." Adrian suggested, shining his flashlight into the seemingly vacant forest to prove his point.

He was right. That night had been uneventful especially for the wilderness of the frontier. Even Quen hadn't sniffed out any threats. The quilava walked in front of the group, sniffing the ground periodically and watching anything in the treeline that caught her attention. Mostly it was just a hoothoot or rattatta peeking out curiously at the movement. These small pokemon wouldn't attack two grown humans and a quilava, especially one that looked as strong as her.

Adrian stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the sounds of screeching from deep in the forest northeast of their position. He dropped to one knee, turning off his flashlight immediately, the motion followed soon after by Amy, who's eyes scanned the treeline behind them. In the darkness, they saw nothing, only being accompanied by the dim glow of the crescent moon. When Quen emerged silently from the darkness, Adrian only jumped a bit, expecting his pokemon to come to him, but not anticipating when. She took her position between the sounds and her trainer.

Hot steam flowed out of the open pores that ran from between her ears to between her shoulders, and horizontally across her backside. Her charcoal coloured fur laid flat against her, prepared to strike the flint-like growths that lined the outsides of the opening. If she saw any threats she would combust and attack. Without fail it would always make a man stop dead in his tracks after watching the flames of a quilava poised to pounce.

SC

Lungs burning, and shoulder aching, Zach recounted his last moments in an instant, his brain firing a thousand images at once. He felt the impact of the seviper's tail. The acid burning and sizzling the shoulder of his hoodie. Had he seen a flash before the impact? Had that simply been the shock of the pain? He was a man who wanted answers, and his final moments should be in the search for the cause of his death down to the very specific detail. He opened his eyes, internally laughing at the pokemon's apparent incompetence.

The seviper's tail had become stuck in the bark of the tree over Zach's right shoulder. He saw, from his peripheral vision, the splinters of wood heave and crack as the serpent fought to free its tail, hissing and screeching as a part of it's forehead seemed the smoke and smolder.

_'Not the incompetence of the predator,' _Zach thought, '_but the competence of the prey.'_

Riley had never been one to do the expected by Zach's deductions of the mouses persona in the past few weeks. Any baby pokemon would simply run from danger and leave their trainer to their fate, completely useless for the trainer's defense until they evolved, mental functions and instinct got in the way of the desire to help their owners. A large reason baby pokemon are rarely encountered in the wild was because whatever killed their trainer usually got to them moments later.

He felt the mouse protruding from Zach's jacket, the resulting surge of electricity sprinting through his trainer's shoulders. Riley's glance met the seviper's, taking in deep breaths at the expense of energy from his electrical attack. An attack that could have potentially killed himself. Riley jumped from Zach's jacket and onto the assistant's stiff shoulder, giving the highest pitched hiss Zach had heard.

Elm had infant pokemon in his lab, a large part of his research was breeding, as anyone who knew the man would tell anyone who asked. Zach had heard them playing, an infant sentret and hoot-hoot rolling around on the floor, unaware that they were subconsciously practicing hunting each other. An act they would partake in only if they were released into the wild before reaching maturity. The hissing from the sentret was always playful, and had that underlying layer of good nature and humour to it.

Riley made no illusions of that notion, although the hissing was quiet, high pitched, and laboured to rise above the pokemon's breath, it was of pure malice, primal anger and the need to ensure the survival of his family.

Another lash of weak lightening escaped from Riley's cheeks, the effects of which would be barely felt by Zach himself, but to the snake it was a trigger to kill the one that caused it pain. It heaved its tail back hard, freeing the serrated edges from the bark of the tree, and barely missing Zach, as it retracted behind the snake with an alarming speed. A speed, Zach noted, that was not the same speed it possessed previously.

The pichu's eyes narrowed.

'_Riley, what are you thinking?'_ Zach thought incredulously. His eyes narrowed to get a better look at the pichu, but found the yellow figure no longer there. He had disappeared into the darkness with awkward stumbling. The trainer's eyes widened as far as his limited movement would allow him to, and his mind screamed again. Not for his own survival, but his pokemon's.

The seviper lunged into the forest, rumbling the ground beneath it as its abdominal muscles propelled him through the bush. It's tail disappearing into the forest with a sluggish twist on its previous expulsion of speed.

Those were the longest seconds of Zach's life. His youngest pokemon had just run from a threat. A threat that Zach knew could catch him without a second of tribulation. His heart could have almost broken free of his chest had his rib cage not provided a significant hindrance to the feat. He was certain that, had his muscles not been acquiesced to their current position, he would be shaking.

No, he would be running.

Had he been able to move he would have escaped. Without one of his pokemon risking their lives.

As he leaned against the tree, unable to move his head, Zach realized that all he could do was listen. He heard the breaking of branches as the seviper took pursuit of Riley, but it was closer than Zach would have expected. The snake was not as fast as it once was, be it fatigue or rage hindering its sense of direction in the pitch black forest. He heard its hissing as it made lunges for Riley, but the fact that there was more than one hiss meant multiple lunges and seemed to bode well for the tiny mouse. Still, Zach's imagination ran wild in his terrified state, and he would not allow any positive thoughts to overcome his border-line delirium.

That's when he heard a screech. The screech stopped Zach's breath in his throat, and his eyes widened once again. He recognized what he heard, and it was not far enough to warrant comfort. The sound was high pitched and chilled Zach to his very core, his paralyzed muscles not allowing even a reflexive shiver. There was the familiar metallic tang to it, as if the sound was coming from within a hollow chamber.

Then he heard a loud hissing, and the screech grew more intense and closer. From the trees, Riley emerged, untouched, but exhausted. Zach's still racing heart slowed at seeing his pokemon unharmed, and began to wonder how he could train him to be even more efficient. He felt his breathing slow as, for the first time in the past few minutes, he relaxed.

But his calm was destroyed in an instant. Immediately to his left a pair of conflicting forces erupted into the camp. All he heard was cawing, hissing, screeching, and the ruffling of the ground beneath those forces of nature. The seviper seemed to be already winning, wrapped around the carapace of a metallic figure that reflected the fire like a dirty mirror. The two rolled around on the floor, kicking up dirt and throwing the contents of the forest floor every direction as their threatening calls emanated continuously from the opposing pokemon.

Zach heard the sound of the seviper's constriction tense around the skarmory, its knife-like feathers digging into the hide of the serpent, and its talons digging deep into whatever part of its opponent they could get a grip on. The sound was that of creaking metal, and the bird was evidently in a bad place.

An ear piercing screech erupted from the confines of the seviper's new prey, and it recoiled, thrashing about violently as its hold on the bird gave away. As it uncoiled it stretched out, returning to its full length. Its tail flailed unchecked around the campsite, flying over Leo and landing on the ground inches from his head.

Rising up, the bird took stock of its surroundings, only glancing at Zach and the leafeon for a second before returning its attention to the opponent, which was now almost motionless on the ground. The skarmory's wings shoot out of it's sides, leaping on top of the seviper's head with another screech that echoed off the mountains. This was the apex predator of the area, and Zach watched as it lived up to its reputation.

The skarmory dug its razor sharp talons into the seviper's head, keeping its wings out for balance as it continuously raked at the snakes eyes. The talons dug effortlessly into the seviper's flesh, leaving a continuous series of red gashes over the serpent's face. Zach closed his eyes when he saw the talons of the bird make contact with one of the serpents eyeballs, knowing instantly that the eye was lost.

The serpent seemed to give way to this onslaught of attacks. It seemed to lay motionless on the ground, although its heavy breathing and twitching told the signs of life. It was paralyzed, but not from the skarmory. Throughout the past minute or so Zach saw the signs of it, the sluggish movement of itss tail, both when it pulled out from the tree and when it disappeared into the forest.

All the pieces fell in place in an instant. At that moment Zach had come to his understanding of how Riley saved his life. The pichu had paralyzed it, but he was so feeble that the effects needed time to sink into a larger pokemon like the seviper. Although the fact that Riley had even known thunder wave, and had the ability to paralyze such a powerful pokemon, made Zach question the exact age of the pichu.

With his eyes still closed, his hearing picked up a new development in the situation. He heard the air in the camp expand and collapse. A teleportation. The man who took Elm had returned. Immediately he heard the man shriek in terror and surprise, and Zach could not have been happier at the idea of the man receiving the wrath of the skarmory.

He opened his eyes to see the contrary take place. As the skarmory stopped its attack to see the new arrivals, it was thrown off with a shimmer of air around it. The kadabra stood, beside the man, with eyes that were the colour of sapphire, glowing in the darkness of the camp.

With a thud, the skarmory landed on the ground, itss razor sharp tail catching Zach's face, leaving behind a crimson scratch across his cheek. In that instant Zach's heart jumped into his throat, feeling as if the pokemon were going to crush him.

The bird stirred instantly and rose to its feet, the raptor lowering its head and spreading its wings out in a challenge. The low gargling caw from the bird was the equivalent of a growl, signaling it was not finished yet.

Immediately the man produced a pokeball and returned the seviper in a flash of red light as the pokemon dissolved into raw energy. With a scowl he made eye contact with Zach the instant before teleporting off again.

Zach's mind raced with anger at the idea of him getting away again, and both times under the same circumstances. Both times Zach couldn't see his face, and it made Zach's eyes fill with rage, and his breathing intensified, but he felt the sensation of tightness. At least he could feel, but the new information from his body turned rage into fear. Zach's mind went back the idea of asphyxiation, and he knew, at that moment, it was to be a reality. He could only hope Leo was not undergoing to same sensations.

In that moment the camp became eerily quiet. The only sound being that of the ground being kicked up by the strides of the skarmory as it elegantly stalked around the campfire, its metal carapace catching the flame and reflecting it off into the forest. Within the light, many dents could be seen in the bird's hide, and it walked with a limp. The coil of the seviper had not been as ineffective as Zach had previously thought.

Riley's head poked out of Zach's jacket again, scanning the scene. It appeared as though he had taken the time to regain some of the spent energy, but he was far from a full recovery. His pupils dilated when he saw the wild pokemon move on the other side of the dancing flame.

In an instant, the skarmory's attention snapped to Zach and Riley, its eyes becoming slits.

_'Are you fucking kidding me,'_ Zach thought in defeat. Knowing full well when a predator was about to move in.

Without even a moment of hesitation, the skarmory moved towards them, its maw opening to reveal teeth uncharacteristic of most birds. It's breathing seemed to ring within itself as it made a slow approach, being cautious of it's surroundings.

Riley hissed again, the hair on his head sticking up and his large ears falling back. There were only two things Zach could make out of the next few seconds, a bright flash and a crack of thunder.

The skarmory stumbled backwards, twitching as the metal carapace welcomed the electric shock throughout the clad bird's body. It slumped onto its knee, breathing heavily from the impact. Although it was a good blow, the skarmory simply shook its head before returning to its feet, glancing down and seeing Riley laying on the forest floor beside it. It sluggishly moved for the easy prey, and Zach's mind began to scream once again as the bird made slow and awkward twitches in an attempt to walk.

The raptors neck craned down to grab at the pichu, but its head shot up when it heard the sounds of twigs and leaves rustling under the weight of a charging opponent.

Without warning, Quen emerged from the trees, her head and backside shooting out fire that illuminated the face of her trainer, who decided to remain in the trees.

A second lter the weasel's mouth opened and two small, well aimed, fireballs erupted out, making contact with the skarmory's neck and wing. The bird screeched in pain, charging at the quilava immediately.

The fiery pokemon charged forward as well, boasting an impressive speed. She tackled the bird's leg, knocking the heavy bird off balance. With wings fluttering to maintain its stature, the bird kicked at the quilava, only doing so much as scratching the surface of her hard fur.

The flames of the quilava intensified for a second, forcing the bird to take a step back in retreat. Then it charged again, the screeching echoing off the trees.

The quilava delivered a killing blow at this instant. Her mouth opened again, hot foam dripping from her jaws. A long, steady stream of fire erupted from her mouth, subjecting the bird to a relentless onslaught of flame that cast shadows across the campground and the surrounding forest.

The fire made contact with the head of the bird, and it screamed. In an instant of panic and pain, in dropped on the ground, the metal carapace of its head steaming and dripping as the smell of burned flesh filled the area.

Quen watched its fallen opponent for a moment, her chest and stomach heaving. The flames on the pokemon's back cut out when it decided the threat at been taken out. She began to sniff around the campground, raising her head to look into the trees.

Through the bushes, Adrian emerged, looking around the camp and taking in his new situation. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a man laying against a tree. "Gods..." he whispered to himself, taking the final step into the clearing from the bushes. "Please be alive..."

He knelt next to the man, bringing his head closer to his chest. He sighed in relief when he heard a heartbeat and pulled his head back. When he brought his head level with the man's, he made eye contact. The look in the paralyzed man's eyes was that of pure terror, and it made Adrian leap back in startled surprise with an 'oh shi-'

"Amy?" Adrian called over his shoulder. "He's alive, but paralyzed." He looked back to the man. "Yer lucky we saw the lightening."

With her arms crossed over her chest, Amy timidly appeared from the bushes, revealing herself from her hiding place. Her amber eyes scanned the scene just as Adrian did, but her attention stopped on another target, her eyes widening and a gasp escaping her lungs. A small yellow figure laid motionless on the ground near the dead Skarmory, its body covered in mud and dirt.

Without caution, she broke into a jog towards the little mouse, going onto her hands and knees to carefully roll the pokemon over. His head slumped to the side, and her heart dropped. "He's not breathing," she said somberly, turning her head to look at the man who laid against the tree. "I'm sorry..."

Adrian looked over his shoulder behind him, watching his wife look down at the pichu. He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a long breath. He turned back towards the man, who's eyes had begun to fill with tears. The ranger placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. Under his hand he felt the muscles struggle to move, the paralyzed man's arms twitching frantically.

"Whoa-whoa," Adrian said louder than he should have. "Don't move or it'll just take longer to wear off." He looked back to the scene, expecting the beige pokemon to be dead as well. "I'm sorry about yer pokemon," he said quietly, looking back to the man.

He heard his wife let out another surprised gasp. "His heart's beating!" she exclaimed. "Get oran berries out of my bag."

At once Adrian was on his feet, looking down at the man and giving him a short smile before moving to his wife to take the bag from her shoulder. "You can bring him back?" he asked hopefully.

Not looking up, Amy answered as she put her index finger on the pichu's chest, begining exceedingly light compressions. "Mash the berries into a paste. He'll need the boost." Her response was as if she hadn't actually heard the question, or she had blocked out all external factors.

Looking between Amy and the pichu, Adrian took the bag and set it down, rummaging through its contents until he found a small blue box with the white image of a flower embedded on the top. He cracked open the top of the box, revealing a colourful assortment of berries. Oran berries were the easiest to remember, as they were the most widely used.

He produced two small blue berries and closed the case, slipping it back into his wife's bag. He got to work once he produced a mortar and a pestle. With unbroken concentration, he mashed the berries in a matter of seconds and put the bowl next to Amy.

After another few seconds, which felt far longer to Amy, the pichu finally let out a quiet squeak. His head turned to the side and the mouse coughed once, taking in a long deep breath before squeaking again. Amy's smile could have brightened the camp ground if the fire had not already claimed that job

Looking once at the pichu, he stood and trotted back towards the man against the tree. He knelt once again. Hearing a faint wheezing from the victims nose. Adrian recognized the sound, and shoot his glance backwards. "He's havin' trouble breathing."

"The paralysis must be restricting his diaphragm," she said quietly as she slowly brought the bowl of oran paste to the pichu's mouth. "I have some paralyze heal on my bag, but only enough for one. How is his other pokemon looking?"

Adrian shot a quick glance over to the unidentified species which laid near the edge of the campground, the figure being only dimly lit by the fire. He settled his focus on its chest, being satisfied when he saw the faintest rise and fall of the pokemon's side. "Aye. He's breathin', doesn't look like he's havin' trouble," he answered.

"Ok," Amy responded, moving the bowl away from the pichu's mouth, receiving a squeak of protest from the baby. She looked down at it and smiled. "Let the first bit sit for a bit, sweetie," she whispered to him. She looked up, her smile fading and severity crossing her features. "Give the trainer a paralyze heal, it's a clear bag with yellow lotion in it."

Adrian fished out the described bag, and stuck his tongue out in disgust at the paralyzed man. "Sorry, brother," he said. "this stuff stinks, but it'll help you breath." The man only grunted, his eyes shooting condescension into Adrian, making him laugh a little bit, "Sorry. Bad time for jokes." He took the bag and produced a knife from the side of his body armour, creating a small incision near the top of the bag.

"Adrian," Amy spoke up, observing her husband make his first attempt at first aid. "You have to remove his shirt first, It's not going to do anything if it's on his clothes.

Adrian blinked at the bag for a second, then looked at the man. "Sorry. Guess I need to take your clothes off." The ranger set down the bag being careful as to not let the fluid leak out the incision. He unzipped the mans hoodie, thankful that his patient wasn't wearing body armour. He raised the man's arm to get the sleeve off, hearing a grunt of discomfort from the man.

"Careful," Amy said, standing up and slowly walking over to them as she cradled the pichu in her arms. "If you move his muscles too fast while he's paralyzed you might injure him."

Adrian, his face straitening as his mouth tightened, nodded in understanding. He moved slower now, carefully moving the arm through the first sleeve, then the other, throwing the black jacket to his side. When the man looked at his jacket, Adrian made a remark. "Don't worry, man. They can be cleaned."

The smile on his face faded when the man rolled his eyes and flicked his glance towards his pokemon.

"He's talking about his pokeballs," Amy relayed. "They're probably in his jacket." She looked at the man. "Do you want us to return your pokemon over there? Blink once for yes," she said, switching to her nurses tone, which was soft and sweet. The man blinked once. "Ok. I'll return him. Remove his shirt and apply the lotion before he suffocates," she said to Adrian as she moved towards the jacket.

Adrian nodded in confirmation, leaning the man forward slowly and raising his shirt to his chest, once again being careful not hurt him. He placed the shirt behind the man's back, acting as a cushion between his bare back and the bark of the tree. He looked at the bandages wrapped around his shoulder. "Nice patch work," he said. He leaned in closer. "Can you teach my wife how to do that? I don't think she quite gets it," he said in a whisper.

Pretending not to hear the statement, Amy smiled at her husbands success and retrieved the pokeball, which hosted the carving of a name on the red cap. "Leo?" she said, looking over to the fox. "Ok, Leo. Return." She said as she pointed the ball towards the pokemon, frowning when nothing happened.

Adrian began applying the lotion to the mans diaphragm. "Yer outta range, move a little closer. Basic pokeballs got a range of – Quen!" he scolded, seeing his quilava begin to tug at a portion of the skarmory's exposed leg. She immediately discontinued her efforts, retreating from the corpse as she resumed her patrol, the weasel's ears laid back with guilt.

Glancing sidelong to Adrian, she let out a small laugh and stood up. As Adrian went to work applying the medicine, Amy moved closer to Leo. Her eyes looking up and down the immobile body of the pokemon. "Wow," she breathed, admiring the elegance of the grass-type as she grew closer. "You're beautiful."

Quen approached the nurse, her head low and her muscles tense, prepared to strike the leafeon if it made any move towards Amy. Her eyes were dilated into slits, and the back of her head had begun to ungulate the air above it as the heat rose. Amy glanced over and patted the quilava on her back, being careful to stay away from the vents. She rose the ball again and Leo disappeared in a flash of red, surrendering his physical form to plasma as his mass was absorbed into the lens of the pokeball. Amy sighed, looking down to Quen, who looked back up to the pichu, still in her arms, with curiosity.

She turned back to her husband. "How's he doing?" she asked him.

Adrian lowered his hand from the man's chest. "Looks like he can breath again," he said with a breath of relief.

Amy smiled and approached the man, putting her free hand on her knee to speak to him. "Just relax and you'll be able to move and talk in a minute," she said affably. "Here." She knelt onto one knee, gingerly placing the Pichu in the man's lap. Smiling when the small mouse sniffed at his bare chest and recoiled.

Adrian sat by the fire, cupping his hands over his mouth and closing his eyes. He recoiled when he noticed the paralyze heal was all over his hands, forgetting that he applied it by hand. "Oh, by Ho-oh's ass," he swore. "How do they get away with makin' it smell this bad?"

"Because it works," Amy retorted, moving over to her husband and kneeling in front of him. She produced a cloth from her bag and began to wipe off the fluid from his hands. There was a moment of silence between the two before Amy spoke again. "What do you think paralyzed him?"

Adrian's mouth twisted as he ran over scenarios in his mind. Taking the time to categorize any pokemon who knew had the capability. He shook his head. "I honestly can't tell. It couldn't have been his pichu..." he trailed off.

"Could it have been a dragon?" Amy asked hesitantly. "I heard Augustus hasn't been to trusting of the Dragon Folk lately. Maybe this is retaliation?"

Adrian snorted a quick laugh. "If it was a dragon we would have noticed."

"Think this is unrelated to recent events then?"

"Honestly. I don't have the sense to tell. A lot of outlaws live out here, could just be a random attack."

Amy simply nodded, removing the last bit of the fluid from Adrian's hands. The ranger dried the rest off on his jeans, eliciting a scoff from Amy.

Adrian simply looked at her with admiration, admiring her beauty in the firelight. He felt, at that moment, like the luckiest man in the Indigo Leagues. "You know, I'm proud of 'ya," he said. "This would have gone a lot differently without 'ya here." He looked over to the Skarmory.

Amy glanced up at him. "You would have been fine," she reassured, looking over towards Adrian's quilava, who now sat on her haunches overlooking the couple.

Adrian shook his head once, his casual smile returning. "The pichu might be dead, and I might have injured the guy. You helped far more than you'd like to admit."

"He's right," they heard a weak voice say in a Sinnoean accent. They turned around to see the man lean forward a bit, slowly and carefully bringing himself to a stand. "You both saved my life, and the life of my pokemon. Thank you." His face was weak, and his voice was hoarse. He closed his eyes and took a deep quivering breath.

Amy stood. "Please don't exert yourself."

The man shook his head with a weak grimace. "I've had a rough day, so I want to take it easy, trust me," he said, slowly rolling his shoulders and inspecting his bandages, "but I've already lost too much time."

He turned and bent over with a grunt of effort, retrieving his jacket from the cold forest floor, the pichu perched his shoulder. The man produced a pokeball from his bag, returning the mouse to his ball. He looked over towards the space that Elm's bedroll had occupied ten minutes ago. His hazel eyes flared with urgency and he slowly made his way across the camp site to grab his bag.

It was gone. In its place was a satchel covered in dirt as the result of the battle that had torn up the ground of the campsite. It was filled with papers and pencils, food rations and survival tools. He let out a sigh, dropping to his knees to fully explore its contents.

Adrian and Amy watched in silence, there eyes switching between each other and the man. Adrian spoke up. "What's your name?" he asked flat out.

"Zach," he responded, not looking up from the satchel.

"Zach," Adrian repeated. He stood, dusting the back of his pants. "Well, Zach. I'm Adrian, this is my wife Amy."

Zach simply nodded. "Thank you again for your help." He looked up, frowning when he noticed the stars had been covered with clouds, leaving him no way to properly navigate besides the compass. "I don't even know where to begin," he said to himself, suddenly realizing he spent the past few minutes fearing for his life instead of forming a plan of action.

"What's priority?" Amy asked.

Zach looked down at the ground, scanning the footprints left by the skarmory. He gripped the strap of the satchel. "I need to get to a pokemon center, Riley might have sustained nerve damage."

"He seemed fine," Adrian said, despite his wife's nod of understanding.

"He sat in my lap and stayed there, that's not like him."

"So you're going to go alone? With a paralyzed fox and a pichu?"

Zach nodded again and put the bag over his uninjured shoulder, grunting in pain at the exertion. "I'm in a rush, and I need to get out of this camp."

"You don't have any capable pokemon," Adrian repeated.

"I have bigger problems than simply my own safety, and that's been in question ever since I left town." Zach responded, beginning to move for the trees.

"Oy," The ranger moved in front of Zach, blocking his path. Zach attempted to sidestep, but the man shifted his position accordingly, his arms folded over his chest. Zach sighed and looked to the man, who stood a few inches taller. "You got lucky once. You'll die if ya' go alone." Adrian advised.

"Look," Zach said, holding his hands up. "It's taking everything in my power to keep my shit together, and I still need to get to a city, heal my pokemon, and organize a man hunt."

Adrian cocked an eyebrow, turning his head slightly to catch Amy in his peripheral vision. "A man hunt for who?"

"Adrian," Amy said, standing up. "Don't push him. Look at him, he's terrified." she suggested.

Adrian glanced over to his wife, taking a moment to think over the idea. "Maybe," he said, his mouth tightening. "Maybe he can come to New Bark with us. The professor can fix his pokemon up no problem, and he can rally some militia ta' look around. Two spearow, one stone."

Zach's eyes went wide and his heart jumped into his throat. He took a deep breath in an attempt to relax, but the gravity of his position hit him like a wave. The research assistant took a step back from Adrian.

"Are you alright, Zach?" Amy asked, noticing the shift in the man's demeanor.

Zach looked over to the woman, then back to the man. "If you guys want see the professor you're better off coming with me."

Adrian looked back to Zach. "What do you mean?" he asked, consternation building in his voice. "You don't even know where to go."

Zach nervously looked down, he felt his mouth dry and his palms sweat. He wasn't good with delivering news that would hit like a bomb. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He's the person who's missing."

Adrian blinked in surprise, at first only standing there as a blank pallet. Then his expression began to take shape. His eyes squinted briefly and his mouth twitched, wanting to say something that his mind couldn't fully form in that moment. The lines on his brow darkened into a furrow, his mouth hung open.

Amy rushed forward, her expression matching her husband's. "What?" she asked, searching for confirmation on the reality of Zach's words.

"It happened less than twenty minutes ago. I couldn't see anything because I couldn't open my eyes at the time, but I heard teleportation."

"Twenty minutes?" Adrian snapped, lurching toward Zach. With restraint, he relaxed his fists. "We were that close? And where the hell were you?" he said, his gaze shooting daggers into Zach.

For the first time since the man had teleported out of his sight, Zach felt a rush of anger rise from his gut, heating his face. His fists clenched at his sides, and his teeth were grinding. "I was beside him. The entire time." He look a long breath. "You saw my position. What was I supposed to do? I failed him, I know that already, and I don't need invective."

"Okay," Amy spoke up, stepping between the two men. "Zach. Describe what you remember, and we can go from there."

Taking another deep breath, Zach closed his eyes and crossed his arms, shaking his head slowly. He began to tell them of the events that led up to his kidnapping. The ursaring attack, the seemingly endless onslaught of threats over the past half an hour, and the man with the kadabra.

"So..." Adrian began, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The professor was kidnapped. You don't know by who, and they teleported. So they could be anywhere within a mile radius."

"A mile and a half," Zach corrected. "Maybe further depending on how long the pokemon needs to rest between jumps."

"You said it jumped in and out the last time," Adrian pressed.

"They could have gotten away with a short jump," Zach explained.

Adrian looked at the skarmory, the fire and the bed roll that Elm had slept on that night. "Ok. Get yer shit and start walkin', Sinnoean," Adrian demanded, looking over to the pokemon that Elm had given him. "We're goin' to Cherrygrove."

* * *

><p><strong>So there it is. My characters meet, and they hate each other. I actually didn't see that coming as I wrote their relationship as I went along. Fun times.<strong>

**Also, sorry if the scene change threw you out of the action, it was necessary to establish Adrian and Amy's arrival so it didn't just seem like they came out of nowhere to save the day.**

**Anyways, thank you for those who have shown interest, and I'll see you with the next chapter. Cheers**


	5. Progress

**Happy New Years, and I hope you're having a good holiday. **

* * *

><p>"Zach," Rowan called from his office. The young man twirled in his seat, meeting the gaze of his professor through the door he had sat in front of. "I need to speak with you a moment.<p>

Raising himself from the seat, he told Leo to remain under his desk. The vulpine cat remained loyal, his gaze casting about the busy lab as he constantly scanned the situation. There was never a quiet moment in the laboratory of professor Rowan, his aim was to shatter any of his assistance's fantasies of a job with him being easy and cushy.

"Close the door, please." Rowan ordered, his eyes never leaving the documents which were scattered over his desk. When he heard the click of the mahogany door close, he raised his gaze to his employee. He sat quietly for a moment, knowing Zach would allow him the first word. "An opportunity has arisen, Zach, and I feel you are qualified to handle it."

Zach stood quietly by the door, blinking in surprise before responding. "An opportunity, sir?" A figure in the corner of his eye caught his attention. His mother sat in one of the chairs that sat against the window, her aged face held in a smile. He looked at her for a long moment, noting the sense of pride she held, before turning back to his boss. "What kind of opportunity?"

Rowan looked to Zach's mother, and raised his hand to her. "Diane. Would you like to tell him?"

In an instant she stood, her long black ponytail falling between her shoulders as she stood. She smoothed out her white lab coat before turning to her son. "Professor Elm has told me he wants you to work for him."

Zach stood quietly or a moment, his mother, the head researcher of Rowan's lab, had told him to go to the other end of the world to work for someone in the middle of the wilderness. In a town on the border between Johto and Kanto, a region known as 'the frontier of civilization.' He looked into his mother's eyes for a long while, seeing that familiar glint of concern and pride for her son. "So, I'm to go to Johto if I accept?" he asked in his best imitation of professionalism.

"Yes," Rowan said flatly, leaning forward in his chair and holding his hands in front of his face. He rubbed his thumbs together as he conceptualized what he was going to say next. Finally after a few moments of silence, in which Zach shifted his gaze between Rowan and his mother continuously in discomfort, Rowan spoke "Professor Elm has told me you caught his eye with your aptitude. He was highly impressed with your skill when he went out to route two oh five. He said he needs a man like you working in his lab." Rowan looked as though he was about to stand, but simply rested his hands down on the desk, his shoulders relaxing. As he spoke, his stern gaze never left Zach's quiet and contemplative one "His lab is in a dangerous area. Many people on the frontier don't have the same technology as us. They rely on the knowledge of researchers and trainers to protect the settlements from being over run by the local wildlife." He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "I'm not sure if they even have telephones where you'll be working. Even then," the professor said quietly. "his work is thankless."

Zach remained motionless for a moment, his mouth held shut by force as he did not want to betray his respectable stature in front of the professor. "I assume I can bring Leo over the border?"

"Yes," Rowan said with a sigh. "You and your leafeon have been inseparable since you found him."

"He found me, sir."

Rowan looked at Diane for a moment, noting her features falling into a frown, her gaze fell onto the floor, evidently remembering the day two rangers had shown up at her front door with her son and no husband in sight.

"Do you accept?"

"I would need some time to think on it." The assistant replied.

"Oh come on, Zachary," the man heard a feminine voice behind him, jumping as he tuned round to find Dawn leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She had been behind him the entire time, remaining silent with a smirk on her face. "I couldn't think of a better position for you." She pushed herself off the wall, her ponytail falling off her shoulder with the movement. "There are fifty thousand people in Eterna City, every single one of them craves safety. You and I included." She pointed to the young man. "Professor Elm's research is aimed at improving security through breeding. He is on to something big, I've been keeping up with the notes he's been keeping at this lab. Trust me, you want to be a part of it."

Zach's face went stiff as he listened to his friend's reasoning. She had always been more intelligent than him, almost more so than her grandfather, and she used that. Her mind was always her greatest tool, and he kept it sharp. Zach always understood that, and did his best to think for himself while she was attempting to convince him of anything. "What sort of 'big' thing' then, Dawn?" he asked, keeping his incredulity in check. "Seriously, pokemon are widespread in use for security reasons already."

Dawn Rowan smiled as she took a seat next to her grandfather, glancing down momentarily sat his paper work before returning her blue eyed gaze to Zach's. She leaned her head back against the headrest of the chair. "Think of it this way. How will the people survive if they have to rely on martial weapons for much longer? Every time someone fires a flintlock it has the risk of alerting another pokemon to them. A pneumatic crossbow is only so good against a flying-type or rock-type where an ice-type could be far more effective. Pokemon are needed to fight pokemon, Zach. I know it's the other side of the world, but that's how far someone night have to go to make a difference. Here's some perspective, the first people settled there two hundred years ago, and they didn't even know if the area was outside of The Badlands. At least you know there will be a civilization waiting for you. Call it misguided altruism if you want, Zach. Call it foolish, but I think it would be stupider not to go, and you're life won't be at risk too much. Johto is just as safe as Sinnoh," She laughed.

"Actually," Rowan interjected. "I do need to warn you that the political structure of Johto is tense. The cities act independent of each other, but the country has been at peace for fifty years. Also, if something does start, you'll be far from any major conflicts in the Southern region of the country."

"Grandpa," Dawn said quietly. "There haven't been any Sinnoean nationalist uprisings in Johto since 2914, and even if it did all of the city's leaders have sworn allegiance to The Plateau."

Rowan cleared his throat. "Y-yes. She is correct. Johto might be independent now, but the conflicts that rose from it have long since passed. There should be no need to worry."

"Zachary," his mother spoke up, walking over to her son who stood a few inches taller than her. "I think you know that this is what your father would have wanted." She squeezed his shoulder. "You can be at the forefront of Elm's field of research, paving the way for a better way of life for mankind. His findings won't just help the people of The Indigo Leagues, but even up here. He wants to change the world, and he's selected you to be right there with him."

"Think about it," Dawn said, crossing her legs and grabbing one of the water bottles off Rowan's desk.. "They might even be able to push into The Badlands with the research. Imagine controlling a pokemon in the Apotheosis Category. Or a tri-type pokemon."

"Alright, Dawn, Mom, Rowan. You guys win." Zach held his hands up, finally having enough of the back and forth directed at him. He wanted to interject, but he knew if he rebutted to much it would just turn into a one sided argument. On one side, the reigning professor in the country, his ingenious granddaughter, and Zach's mother. Even as stubborn as he was, he decided against rebuttals. Instead he sighed, looking around the brightly lit room. "So..." he started, admitting defeat and acquiescing his future to peer pressure. "Where is Elm?"

Rowan leaned forward, shooting a smile to his granddaughter. "He's in Kanto for now, but he'll be in New Bark by the time your ship lands in Cherrygrove City. We knew you would say yes eventually."

"You've... already booked my voyage?" Zach asked in unadulterated disbelief.

Dawn almost spit her water back into its bottle from Zach's reaction, choking as he fought the laughter.

SC

_It's not as if pokemon are actively trying to wipe out humans, but the necessary precautions must be in place in the event of a powerful pokemon wandering into a settlement._

It was, for some reason, that moment Zach's mind had chosen to reflect on Dawn's words. He looked across the fire to the body of the skarmory, understanding that this was predator, not a force out to thrust the human race to extinction. They were not a tsunami bent on destroying cities, but rather an obstacle to be overcome.

He looked back to Adrian, whose features had twisted into an anxious expression. A far cry from the personality he had shown while helping the immobile field assistant. With a grunt, he twisted his head towards the dark trees, his ears gathering a high pitched chirping.

"Do you guys hear that?" Amy had said in the cold darkness of the forest. She leaned forward, tilting her ear to the direction of the sound, and her mouth went agape. Her body armour rubbed together with the sound of the fabric running over itself, and she hastily disappeared into the forest. In toe was her protective husband and his equally as protective quilava.

Taking one more opportunity to look over the camp, Zach shouldered Elm's satchel and followed them in, leaving the warm glow of the fire behind. He would have liked to say the fire added a layer of safety in the wilderness, but the night's events had told him otherwise.

It would not be the last time he would have to return to this site, since the fire would need to be extinguished. Just another chore that would delay his search for the professor.

The forest consumed him in its unwanted blanket of tension, the sense that anything could happen at any time kept the weathered field assistant on his toes, and he shivered in the cold of the night. Although the climate of Sinnoh was far colder than Johto, the paralysis had left an alarming slow down of his heart, thus bringing less blood flow through his body. The only thing that could warm him was to keep moving. An action deemed foolish by himself once he realized he had no idea of direction on the starless night.

He stopped and looked around him, only spotting the glow of the fire in contrast to the stark emptiness of the trees. At least he had a reference point he could return to. He had begun to grow uneasy at the thought of becoming lost in the unfamiliar area.

He took a moment to close his eyes and suck in a deep, quivering breath. His thoughts felt like a clump in his mind. The usual clarity of his mind being now subjected to a fog delivered to him by a torrent of stress and urgency. In those few seconds he felt as if he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, but he couldn't do that. Not here. Not while he had any say in the matter. It was still his mind, and he was in control.

He was pulled out of his reverie when he heard Adrian swear with the tone of clamorous regret.

Moving immediately into the direction of the profanity, Zach began to reflect on his first impressions of the man as a means of distraction. He had seemed cheery when helping him, but his demeanor had changed since.

He had no more time to reflect when he came upon the scene. Amy was crouched down and Adrian paced back and forth with his his hands on his head, his body armour rustling against his gray jacket as he moved.

He looked over to see Zach emerge and let out a long breath before closing his eyes. Without any exposition or lead up, Adrian spoke as he put his hand on his forehead. "That skarmory was a mother." He turned back to look over his wife's shoulder.

Zach moved closer, but was stopped by Amy holding her hand out at him. Six feet from her was a nest at the base of a tree, a host of twigs, leaves, and the vines of a bramble plant twisted together with a grace given by either pure instinct, years of perfection, or both interwoven with the grace and care of a mother thinking of the comfort of her child.

Inside the nest was a timid skarmory chick, whose feathers resembled knifes more than the sharp plates that the hide developed into once age fused them together. It stood at the far end of the nest, the protruding thorns bending on the thick hide of the baby's leg. It only stood two feet high, a far departure from the six foot adult Zach had come to fear. Had Elm done more research into the species Zach might have been able to determine the age.

Amy spoke quietly and softly. "Hey, little one. You're safe," but heeded no results in calming the scared pokemon. She sighed when the animal, not understanding the words spoken to it, maintained its defensive stance, keeping a cautious eye on the humans.

She turned around to the two men, Adrian almost directly over her and Zach far enough away that the darkness shadowed his features. Looking up to her husband over her shoulder, she gestured for Adrian to stand back. To which he complied, signaling his pokemon to remain hidden in the bush.

"What do you plan to do?" Adrian asked, ridden with guilt.

Amy shook her head. "There is nothing I can do," she responded, her tone quiet and even,

"We can't leave it here," Zach pressed, taking a step towards the nest, his eyes never leaving the cowering skarmory.

"We know that," Adrian said under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose again. From there his hand reached up to run through his hair again. The expression of regret lining his features. "Do you have any pokeballs?" he asked the field assistant, his tone far more pleading than before.

Zach shrugged and pulled the satchel in front of him. He undid the belt that held the bag closed, opening its mouth to reveal the bounty of papers and food rations. He entwined his fingers through the documents, instinctively glancing at the words on the pages. Although he couldn't make anything out in the darkness. He looked up from the bag. "Do either of you have a light?"

Adrian nodded and pulled the flashlight from his bag, keeping a weary eye on the agitated baby as he walked over to the other man. The flashlight turned on with a click, and the light flooded the bag, casting numerous shadows of paper through the inside.

"I don't see any," Zach muttered, his words almost incomprehensible to the Johtan between his accent and the lack of volume. The field assistant rummaged through the bag opening the compartments and pockets hidden away inside the satchel. He frowned, looking over to the bird.

Amy watched as she sat further pack, her features twisted into puzzled amusement. "You want to catch it?" she asked.

"It's the best option," Zach replied, his focus remaining on the contents of the satchel.

"Aside from the professor and your pichu we don't have a lot of time to decide," Adrian said. He had almost seemed to relax from the news of Elm; had the tone of urgency in his voice not betrayed his otherwise calm cadence. Zach could see he was a man who could keep it together. Hopefully.

"We can't leave it here," Zach repeated. "You can't just kill someone's parent and leave them in the forest. Not everyone is lucky enough to have rangers-" he cut himself off, closing his eyes as he fought back a choke in his throat.

Adrian looked at Zach with his mouth half open, as if he wanted to speak. He did a take between the bag and the bird, and sighed. He shrugged, pausing to consider his options."I can do without the guilt trip." His mouth tightened as his eye fluttered in his state of deep thought. "Maybe Quen can just put it ou-"

"No!" Zach snapped, his voice echoing off the trees. "That is unacceptable."

Recoiling, Adrian stepped back with his hands held up to placate the sudden burst of anger from the field assistant. "Ok. Ok. What if... hold on," he said as he began to fish around n his own backpack. "Just keep your voice down out here, dumbass."

"Sorry, sorry," Zach hastily replied. "I can't let emotional compromise kill us before we even leave the forest."

Rummaging through his bags contents, Adrian smirked for the first time since Zach had regained movement. "No kidding. Just relax, ok? I know you've been through a lot tonight. I shouldn't have accused you of not doing your job. Yadda Yadda." The ranger ran through his thoughts as if the sentiment was misplaced, and all he could find at that point was neutrality. "Here," he spoke excitedly. "Good old common sense."

"Common sense or his wife, whichever keeps him alive longest," Amy mused with a chuckle.

"Either way, best advice is to always have one handy." He tapped his head as he handed a single pokeball to Zach.

"I can't. I have Riley to look after and I don't have time to train another team member. This falls on you."

Frowning, Adrian looked over to his wife, who had actually made some progress in calming the skarmory. "Ok, let's get this over with then. I don't like my wife bein' near a feral that large. Even if it's a baby," he said as he rose to his feet again, slinging the bag to his back.

Adrian kept his eyes on the pokemon, and gestured for Quen to emerge quietly. He gripped the pokeball in his hand as he took in a deep breath through his nose.

Quen prowled into the scene, her ears pulled back and the long grass, that surrounded her, hid her from the skarmory. Who had now transfixed its full attention on Adrian, taking a cautious step forward and towards the center of the nest. Its long and slender legs moving it with a grace unexpected from a bird capable of flight.

Amy rose up and stepped back, her arms folding over themselves as a deep concern for her husband grew into her features. She stepped back until she deemed herself far enough away, and observed.

Adrian spoke quietly. "Your mother has gone, and the blame lies on me," he said as his gaze settled on the ground, bowing his head as if to wordlessly ask for forgiveness. "I can give you a chance at survival. You would be a domestic, but that ain't all bad." He rose his head to meet the skarmory's eyes. His face was that of remorse, and his eyes almost seemed be be glazed over. "I've made oaths to protect man and animal, and you would be my first example of the weight of that oath."

Zach watched with his arms folded over his chest and his head tilted to the side, his mouth pursed to the side as he watched this unconventional method of capture. He felt the sensation of impatience push itself into his thoughts. The only thing on his mind was the professor, and he addressed Adrian on this matter, pressing the urgency of the situation.

Amy took a side step closer to the field assistant, leaning over to whisper to the man who stood a few inches taller than her. "If he doesn't do this now he'll feel guilty all night." She turned her had in his direction now, her brow furrowed. "If we're going to help you we're doing it our way."

"It doesn't even understand him," Zach argued. "I understand that it's personal, but there has to be a better way of catching it..."

Zach trailed off as the entire area was illuminated by the skarmory dissolving into a flash of red light, materializing and the energy pouring into the pokeball that laid by the nest. The field assistant cocked and eyebrow as he observed the next few seconds.

The ball twitched as the lens, situated on the center of the ball, flickered red and white continuously. The ball rolled over a few times, inching away from the nest and closer to Adrian, the light of the blinking lens re-positioning to erratically flash over a tree. Within a few seconds, the sound of the internal barriers of the ball caused Zach's jaw to drop, and his eye brows to raise.

"You didn't even weaken it," Zach said in disbelief.

Adrian moved over to the pokeball and picked it up, looking into the lens of the orb. He nodded at it for a few seconds and looked up to the other two. "It pushed the button on its own,"he said flatly. As joyful as his wife had expected him to be, he simply stood stone faced, and he walked towards the fire.

Zach looked at Amy. "That can happen?"

"Apparently," she mused, her head tilted back slightly and blinking in surprise. She raised her brow with a '_hmm_' before turning towards the fire.

"I thought he'd be ecstatic," Zach admitted.

Amy began to walk to her husband, meeting Zach's gaze over her shoulder with a smile. "It's his way of dealing with things." As she moved to the fire, she called out to Adrian. "I relaxed him for you," she shouted playfully.

The next few minutes involved putting out the fire and gathering what little supplies they could gather. Zach was the first to leave the campground, heading in the direction in which Adrian and Quen had emerged half an hour ago.

He was also the first to come out of the forest, and wander into the darkness of the westbound road towards Cherrygrove. His feet impacting the shoddy pavement like weak hammers,.He walked in front of the group, outpacing the couple. His posture had him walking with his shoulders stiff and pulled back. He walked with a purpose.

This lasted an hour before Zach's pace finally slowed down and he fell back with the other two, admitting defeat to his fatigue. Adrian and Amy both prodded him about getting too far ahead of them when Quen was their only means of protection. Zach didn't protest.

For the duration of their walk, they began to discuss plans. The conversation and ran more fluidly than Zach had anticipated, being able to get his two cents in with the married couple. He had come up with a few suggestions, as did Amy. Adrian took some of their plans and built on them further, showing that we was fully capable of strategic thinking.

By the time they had reached a definitive plan, the sun had begun to peek over the eastern trees, bathing the road in clear light that almost bleached their surroundings to make the colours around them seem faded in the early morning mist.

In the many hours the group had been moving, the conversation drifted from many topics. No one directed the conversation and it moved with the fluidity of a cloud. Zach had learned a lot about his new companions. Mostly facts about their careers and families, and Zach had shared stories and facts about his life back in Sinnoh.

By the time they reached the walls of Cherrygrove, the sun had hit its mid-morning mark, warming the air from the cold night they had endured for a majority of their travels. Adrian expressed his gratitude for not encountering a noctowl at night. A raticate would shy away from three humans and pokemon, but a noctowl was a whole different danger. Zach replied with the fact that they found a skarmory instead, and the two shared an ironic laugh. Maybe it was them getting past the fear, maybe it was the lack of sleep, but the events that transpired that night seemed to be the target of a few bad jokes. Adrian refused to touch the subject of Riley or Elm, as he wanted Zach to remain in his high spirits and morale.

As they approached the front gates of the town, the walls had towered over them. The conversation died. All three of them remained quiet as the steel door opened with a high pitched whine and squeal, revealing that the mechanism required maintenance. They entered a large room, the only sound being those of the wobbly air conditioning and the ambient buzzing of florescent lights which hung over the guards like dying suns. The room looked large enough for a truck to move through, but only just.

Their footsteps echoed through the silent room as their feet impacted the dusty floor, likely reaching that state from travelers like them.

One of the guards stood from his seat behind a desk that arced away from the white bricked wall. His eyes were piercing and dark, and the lines on his face told of a long and stressful career. With a gruff demeanor, the frontier town guard directed his attention to Adrian. "Pokemon in its ball, please," he said with tired intonation.

Without a question Quen disappeared in the red glow that enveloped her from the pokeball, disappearing in a flash. Adrian stepped towards the desk and produced his wallet from his jean pocket, fishing out his license and ranger ID.

"Ah," the guard spoke with slight amusement. "Greenhorn. Welcome to the nest." Before Adrian could reply he spoke again. "Name checks out, trainer ID's match, date of birth..." he trailed off. "You're twenty two and married?"

"Yes, sir," Adrian said with a grin. "To that beautiful creature there." He turned and pointed to Amy, who gave a weary smile. Evidently she had the spotlight on her now, and she didn't like that too much.

With a grunt, the guard briskly returned his attention to the rest of the group. "You're good to go, ranger. Just remember to keep that fire-type under control, and I assume you know the law well enough to follow it?"

"Yes, sir. No fire types inside any building other than a League sponsored structure, as stated in section four thirty nine subsection thirteen of the Indigo Trainers and Pokemon Acquisitions Act."

"You missed the part about keeping it under control on the streets too, but that's common sense. I'll let it slide," he rose his head from his fist, a position he had taken during the encounter, becoming more relaxed when he saw an example of the new roster of law enforcement. "Keep up to date on the laws, and memorize the ethics. They're your best defense against lawyers." He grinned before turning to meet Zach's urgent gaze, his smile fading and his face hardening again.

"Step forward and present your ID." He looked over Zach's shoulder to Amy. "You're vouched for by family being law enforcement and present. The guard with the growlith will check you for any narcotics or contraband."

Zach stepped forward, and fished his identification from his pocket. The guard's eyes narrowed and the lines on his forehead becoming more pronounced, expelling an intrigued grunt.

"Is the ranger your escort then, researcher?"

"Yes, sir. Until my pokemon can be healed at a Pokemon Center." Without any form of smooth transition, Zach leaned forward on the desk, the bags under his eyes becoming more pronounced to the man. "I do need to report a kidnapping."

The guard raised his eyebrow at him, sitting down and sitting up straight in his chair. "You'd be lucky to get any help. Cianwood's been nosing around in our waters again, and relations with our politicians haven't settled much. You're foreign so you might not know, but they're well known to be nationalist sympathizers." He chuckled. "Praise the motherland, and all that, but they're still sour after the failed uprising."

"Professor Elm. He's the one who was kidnapped. Does that make any difference?"

"Elm? I know that name..." he sat deep in thought. "Oh, right. The scientist from New Bark. I'd tell you to go to the local police, but they'll just send you to Violet City to speak with the high authorities." He leaned in, in a whisper so that he would be inaudible to the guard that stood by the opposite gate leading into the city. "My recommendation is to look for him yourself, off the grid. Tell the police, of course, but with the Dragon Folk to the East and Cianwood to the West, you'd be lucky to get any support."

In a responding whisper, Zach hissed. "He has a wife and son, why the hell wouldn't I receive help?"

"Because he's one man, and if things get worse around here thousands could lose their lives. It's not a perfect morality, but the people leading us are only human. It's the needs of the few against the needs of the many."

Zach stood up and placed his hands over his face, sighing deep into his palms. He lowered his arms, revealing eyes reddening from exhaustion and stress. "Are you saying there's no hope for him? Because I can contact people who say otherwise."

"Everyone's worth something to someone," the guard retorted. "but the professor hasn't made any gains that affect us as a whole. He doesn't mean much to the Violet Region. Contact your people, rally your men. If you have cash, hire some mercenaries, but I think that's the best you can get. You're clear to go through. If you need help finding the Pokemon Center one of the guards will escort you."

"Hey." A raspy voice called. Zach turned to find an elderly man in a chair. His wrinkled arms folded over his chest, and his gaze shooting daggers into the guard. "I'll show them around. That's my job." He stood, pointing an accusing finger at the nearest guard who stepped away in discomfort. "That's always been my job, and I'll be damned if you young shits take that." His gaze met Zach's, who shifted uneasily where he stood. "Come on. I know this city as if I built it."

The gates opened up and Cherrygrove city at in its familiar exposed beauty. The first time Zach had made the walk through the town it had been busy, vendors selling their wears, a tauros drawn wagon pulling the cart of a vagabond trainer, and the occasional resident making their ways to their respective errands.

To the west was the constant ringing of the bells of ships and the horns of the large metal machines that made the trips between countries. The only thing strong enough to resist the pull of a tentacruel being the steel ironclad behemoths that Zach had used on his journey to his new homeland. Even from the eastern gate he could see the steam from their engines pouring into the sky.

The city itself was flat, unlike Eterna City which hosted skyscrapers and radio towers proudly as a beacon of mankind's success and triumph over nature. It was what could be expected of a town on the frontier of civilization, dirt roads that crisscrossed the town and the wooden awnings of the cities outermost buildings. It almost felt like the field assistant had stepped back in time.

"I apologize for my anger back there," the old man said, eyeing the younger man worriedly. "I'm the unofficial tour guide of this town, and since the only people who come back and forth from New Bark and Cherrygrove already know the area I have little to do in my old age."

Zach nodded in understanding, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. As the group followed the man through the city, their feet only impacted the dirt of the unpaved roads. "I just appreciate the help," the research assistant admitted.

Adrian walked up beside Zach and the old man. "To the plan then. Amy and I go the police and you get fixed up and ask around for information."

Zach confirmed with a grunt. "We'll meet at the Pokemon Center later." He watched the couple disappear into another street, he was confident they knew their way around.

Despite the man's attempts at small talk, Zach could only think about his next move. His responses to the man's statements and questions were single worded replies and grunts of either confirmation or rejection. For the most part his eyes fell to the ground, a trait most people had evolved out of when they realized they had predators in the skies. Such an action was outside the norm, and the man could see it only as a gesture of troubled expression.

Then he said something that would stick with Zach the rest of his life. They reached the front door so the pokemon center and as Zach's hand dripped the handle of the door, but he paused when he heard the words.

"Don't stop."

Zach turned to the old man, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "I'm sorry?"

"Forget what that guard said. Elm is the only chance people have of civilization succeeding in this region." His face had twisted into a collection of wrinkles and squinted eyes, conveying the gravity of his words. "Just like Oak in Kanto. Pallet would have never made it if not for him. So do not give up. Your mission might seem insignificant in a time when clouds of war loom overhead, but Elm's work defines the needs of the many. They just don't know it yet."

The field assistant blinked in surprise, nodding once to his guide. "Thank you for your words, sir," Zach replied, his mouth tightening.

The man waved his hand in front of him in dismissal. "Do not thank me, and do not worry about telling his family. I'll take that responsibility."

Zach's head lowered incredulously. "Why would you do that?"

The man turned and looked at Zach over his shoulder. "Because he's my son-in-law."

Before Zach could reply, the old man disappeared into the passing crowds of the inner city. The field assistant stood dumbfounded, an expression he rarely hosted. He was in the midst of processing that news when someone knocked on the door from inside the Pokemon Center, requesting he not block the entrance of the building.

The next hour was a haze to Zach. His pokemon had been admitted into the hospital and he sat in the lounge, his thoughts wandering over the man's words Had his pokemon's health not been a pressing matter he would have pursued him. The gravity of his mission now pressed on him harder than before, and the air of urgency to find him had risen He felt as thought he could never have the ease of mind to sleep, but he had been awake for thirty hours at this point and the cloud of exhaustion caught up with him the moment he had the opportunity to physically relax.

He had begun to doze off when one of the nurses approached him, her blue eyes almost glowing as she smiled. "Sir," she addressed, her tone reminding him of how Amy spoke to pokemon. "You're pokemon have been returned to their full health."

Zach rose form his chair and approached the desk, receiving his pokemon from one of the doctors. His shoulder had healed well enough to not bother anyone about it, and he was glad that there was one less tribulation getting in the way of his mission. "Anything I should know about?"

The doctor shook his head. "Your pichu had sustained minor neural damage, but that was nothing the machine couldn't fix, you would be happy to know that he is growing steadily, and that his power is also slowly increasing. This is a vital time in a pikachu's growth cycle, his voltage is becoming too powerful for his cheeks to store so ensure he discharges small amounts frequently for the next few weeks to build his tolerance. Give it a another month and he might be ready to evolve. We've had him release some for now so he should be electroneutral."

"That's fantastic news," Zach replied. "and Leo is well too?"

"Yes. The leafeon required some specialized care due to its foreign nature, but it wasn't too difficult for a grass-type specialist to see that he is healthy."

Zach thanked the doctor, received his pokemon, and crossed the sterile room towards the front doors. The trainer left the Pokemon Center, entering the town's central plaza, a collection of trees and flowerbeds which sat outside of the various shops that surrounded the hospital. He ignored all of this and left immediately, asking someone for directions to the local pub. He needed to go somewhere were rumours flowed steadily.

SC

The pub had been constructed mostly of wood, the many tables scattered around the floor had been moved around so frequently that there was little hope of Zach trying figure out how they had been situated before. The only sound of the quiet pub was that of a distant radio as quiet jazz music provided a faint ambiance to the otherwise clean establishment.

"The Dark Cave?" Zach asked before taking a drink of his glass of water as he sat on the mahogany bar stool which stood before the bar.

"Mhmm," replied the bartender, who's demeanor had seemed uncaring of Zach's problems. He ever only glanced at Zach as he meticulously kept the bar clean. There were frequent breaks in the conversation for the staff member to check on a patron who had drank too much and found the bar to be a comfortable pillow. "Apparently a bunch of soldiers have been posted just outside of the cave. That's what I've heard at least."

"And you say they're trying to keep something in?"

The bartender shrugged his shoulders, "Couldn't tell you for sure. Plenty of outlaws try to use the cave as a base, but they always get driven out. Maybe your boss was taken there and the authorities have already moved on them."

"That would be a lot of weight off my chest," Zach replied as he took another long drink. "How far is it from here?"

The bartender scoffed. "You serious? It's about a five hour trip north of Rosemount Village. Everyone knows where the cave is. The tunnels run all the way to Cerulean City in Kanto."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not from around here," Zach remarked as if his accent wasn't a dead give away. "Now. Are you telling me they might be trying to flee the country through the tunnels?"

"Only if they're stupid. The network is too complex to navigate, and the pokemon who live in the deeper roads will kill you if hunger and thirst don't." The bartender's mouth twisted and his eyes squinted. "It might not be good for your boss, though. If the authorities have moved onto the cave your criminals might have no choice, and if that's the way they took, your boss is as good as dead."

Zach took a deep breath. "That's a notion I've been afraid of since the start." He stood, paying for his drink as soon as he found the bills in his wallet. Whatever money he could have on his mission would be solely from his saved wages. He couldn't afford luxuries like alcohol or escorts through the wilderness. "Thank you for the information."

The man at the bar didn't respond as he moved towards the radio again, increasing the volume as to make the quiet bar less gloomy. It was only noon and the port town had little business in the small city of three thousand people. The bell over the door rang and Zach was greeted by the warmth of the sun in the cloudless spring sky. He took a breath of fresh air as a reprieve from the smell of tobacco and opium he had endured for the past hour.

He glanced around before taking out the two pokeballs from inside his jacket and releasing his team. Leo stood stoic as ever as his cat-like eyes stared at Zach awaiting an order, and Riley simply took only a second before running at Zach's boot and tugging at its laces. Zach knelt over and scooped the mouse into his hands. A new respect had been found for the pichu and Zach patted him on the head before placing him in Elm's satchel. He sniffed around the bag before his head emerged as he balanced on the more stable contents of the bag.

Zach looked down at Riley with a smile. _'That's right, Zach.' _he thought to himself. _'put him in the bag where he can pee on and muddy up your boss' work.'_

Ignoring his common sense, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he sauntered closer to the Pokemon Center, stopping many people along the way to ask about the local gossip or news that could aid him.

SC

In the plaza in front of the Pokemon Center was where Zach had found himself half an hour later. The most he had learned from talking to the locals was that soldiers had been posted outside of the Dark Cave, and how exotic his leafeon was to the country bumpkin of the small city.

He sighed as he sat on a bench, his head resting in his hands as he fought the exhaustion of being awake for so long. He had pulled long hours before, it came with the job, but never while on the field, and never under such circumstances.

He opened his eyes and glanced into the front window of the Pokemon Center, chucking to himself when he saw Amy and Adrian siting at a table next to the window. Adrian looked excited about something, and his wife simple smiled and nodded at his words. The ranger looked like he had good news.

He stood slowly, Leo's head raising from his resting position as his trainer moved. Zach took a few steps before he felt a tightening on his arm. He was stopped dead in his tracks by the violent pull of whoever had grabbed him, and he had attempted to spin around only to be help in place by the surprising strength of whoever held him. Over his shoulder he felt the warm breath and he heard the rubbing of a knife leaving its scabbard.

In a Sinnoean accent, the words poured into his ears. "Distortion's embrace."

Zach's heart jumped in his chest and he sucked in a deep breath before he felt the mans weight shift towards him. An unanticipated cry of pain and anger erupted from his assailant, and the tight grip was released from Zach's forearm. The young trainer turned to find the cause.

Leo's front paws dug into the man's shoulders as he remained clung to his back, ripping his hooded robes. The two thrashed around as the man attempted to relieve himself of the animal's assault, but Leo would not let go. The man's hood flew off his head, revealing a high cheekbone face twisted in agony.

The leafeon pulled himself up as his whaling cries of rage echoed off the surrounding buildings and with a hiss his teeth dug into the side of the unknown person's neck. The man grabbed Leo by the head and with a surprising feat of strength threw the enraged animal off his back and onto the floor, placing his hands over his fresh wound as he fled into an alleyway.

Leo regained his footing, almost instantly taking off in pursuit of the assailant, but was called off immediately by his trainer's order. The fox stopped and looked back at Zach, his stomach rising and falling and his breathing was audible to those around them who had stopped to witness the scene. Zach didn't want his pokemon to be responsible for the death of a human in a settlement, for that would be murder under the responsibility of the pokemon's trainer. What transpired so far was enough to warrant self defense

"Zach!" Amy called out as she and Adrian rushed through the front doors of the Pokemon Center. "What the hell was that?"

Zach sucked in a deep breath as he reached into Elm's satchel to run Riley's head. "Someone doesn't like me asking questions," he said, his tone dark and his voice shaking.

* * *

><p><strong>Longest chapter so far, congratulations you made it. Thank you to those who have followed, and to those who have reviewed.<strong>

**The first scene was written pretty quickly, but I had a a lot of fun exploring Zach's back story and explaining the importance of Elm's works. It might be weird that Elm is not famous in this story, but that's how it goes.**

**Also recent plot developments, I have decided to go with later in the story, have officially converted this story into an AU. I feel this gives me more creative freedom, and will do nothing but help the story. **


	6. Strength in Amity

The room smelled vaguely of mahogany, which was the decided upon material for the hotel that was attached to the Pokemon Center. Two separate buildings attached by a single hallway, evidently connected as an after thought in the interest of convenience. The setting sun peeked through the window and cast a orange glow across the room, illuminating the bed that Adrian sat on. With his feet planted on the floor, he sat alone with his thoughts.

In his hand was the cloth covered object given to him a week before. He had actually almost forgotten about it, the idea of which was cast to the back of his mind where survival and Elm's kidnapping had taken precedence. His finger ran over the rough cloth, stopping at the edge of the loose fabric. His brow furrowed in bitter curiosity, having seen no reason the identity, or nature, of the object should be unknown to him. Although he had been told it was none of his concern, he felt the contrary.

He pulled the cloth back slowly, exposing a faint glow of light blue which radiated dimly with an icy hue. The ranger's mouth gaped slightly when the exposed section of the object cast its faint light over his hand.

Whatever Elm could know about this object was far outside his area of study, and Adrian began to wonder if giving him this object was a viable objective, or if it was a simple shot in the dark.

Maybe the man had given it to Adrian as a way of ridding himself of whatever danger the object brought. If recent events were any proof, Adrian would have guessed the object brought bad luck.

The silence of the room was interrupted when the door flew open, startling the spaced out ranger. He sat up straight, flicking his thumb to fling the cloth back over the orb, hiding the cold light beneath the fabric, and returning his hand to the warm blanket of orange.

"This is insane," Amy said, exasperated. She threw her bag to the floor and began to undo the latches that held her armour in place. "The guards took Zach off to the barracks for questioning. Want to know why?" she asked, pausing her removal of the armour to look at Adrian.

"I dunno. Because his pokemon attacked someone in the middle of town?" Adrian guessed, slipping the orb back into the confines of the bag. Although he focused on the conversation with his wife, the tendrils of his mind grasped at the orb.

"Not even that. It was self defense. You should know that," the nurse admitted. "No, they took him in because he's Sinnoean. Can you believe that? He told the guards they were looking for someone with a Sinnoean accent, they said that he had a Sinnoean accent, and took him in on the odd chance that he knew the attacker. I mean," she scoffed. "that's just absurd."

"I can follow the mindset," Adrian mumbled, his gaze resting on the floor as he thought. "If two people from the same place were fightin' in the middle of a bar you'd expect them to know each other," he reasoned.

"Countries are just a bit larger than neighborhoods," Amy said, with a smile, as she removed the fortified vest from her torso. "He's probably going to call on you for legal advisement. You might as well go down there now."

Adrian raised an eye brow, turning fully to his wife. "Why'd ya' think that?"

"Because he's obviously smart, honey. Smart enough to be requested from Sinnoh to work for Elm, and smart enough to know when he knows a trained ranger who's versed in the local laws. He's going to use you to get out as soon as he can so he can keep looking Elm," she smiled again at him. "I know that's what I'd do."

Adrian stood, his back popping from his long rest. "Good point. The sooner he's out, the faster we can look." He turned to Amy. "I'll go, so long as ya' stay in the Pokemon Center so Quen can watch ya'." he advised, pulling the quilava's pokeball off his belt.

"What?" Amy replied, her confused glance turning to her husband.

"Look," Adrian began, holding the pokeball out to Amy. "I don't wanna take any chances. We went right to the barracks to talk to the police. Who knows who overheard that? So I'll leave the Fire Spout with you," he said slowly. "I named her after a legendary guardian for a reason, babe."

Amy hesitated, but reached for the pokeball. "What about you?"

Adrian shrugged. "I have my armour, my baton, and my training. If anyone comes at me they'll see the dirt before they can even feel their own weapon," he said as a large grin spread across his face.

Amy crossed her arms. "Ok. That kind of zealousness might get you killed," she said sternly.

"I'll take em' with me. Then The Man God will have the good fortune to witness me kick the shit out of them in heaven," Adrian retorted with a familiar cocky grin.. "For eternity."

"Aridan," Amy scolded, her eyes narrowing.

Her husband's smile quickly faded, the lines on his forehead becoming pronounced as it furrowed. "I know. I'm makin' a joke. I have a skarmory now, remember?"

Amy turned fully to her husband now, her eyebrow cocking. "An untrained baby. How do you know he won't just fly off?"

Adrian glanced at the pokeball on his belt. "I don't think he's old enough to fly..." he muttered, then looked back at Amy. "Once we find Elm I'll start training him. A tamed skarmory would be a good investment of time."

Amy closed her eyes and nodded respectfully at her husbands words. "You know..." she began, " I appreciate that you're focused on finding him, honey, but what if we don't fin-"

"I'm going to stop you there," Adrian interrupted briskly, holding his hand out to the nurse with a scowl crossing over his often genial features. "We will. I understand your skepticism. We have nothing to go on, nothing besides that wild Dark Cave theory Zach thought up, but it's better than nothing."

"And what if he's right here in Cherrygrove? What if the attacker was afraid we were too close? What if they're afraid of us and will try to kill you? What if Elm's already dead?" As she delivered this last sentence, her eyes shot wide as she realized the severity of her theory.

Adrian's mouth opened to say something, but he simply closed his eyes and shot a jeering breath through clenched teeth as he walked towards the door. He reached his hand to the knob, and looked to his wife. "They better be that afraid, because if you're right and they have my professor right here in this city, then they might have to make a few new laws based on my actions."

"Adrian-" Amy said apologetically, but was cut off by the slamming of the door as her husband stormed out of the room. She looked down to Quen's pokeball, squeezing it tightly before holding it up to her chest. "Just be safe..."

SC

Zach sat in the cold metal chair that sat beside a wooden table, being on the other end of an interrogation that had taken a few moments of pause in order for the officer to speak to another coworker on a matter that did not concern the field assistant. The most comforting thing about the small and poorly lit room was the fact that his leafeon had been allowed to remain with him, and that he could remain with Riley so long as the electric type remained in his pokeball. It was bittersweet. As it turned out many law enforcement members on the frontier were also trainers, and he had been warned of immediate execution if he and Leo tried anything.

The trainer sat sideways on the chair, running his hand slowly up and down the leafeon's mossy fur. The only sound in that quiet room was the humming of the fan on the ceiling, and the rubbing of his fingers on the rough textured fur of the grass-type. His eyes were heavy with lack of sleep. and fatigue from his long journey.

His partner's long ears were held back on his head, and his long tail wagged slowly. Leo placed his paw over Zach's forearm affectionately, his eyes communicating a spark of empathy for his trainer. This was a trait the eevee line was known for, animals capable of emotional support.

Zach sighed. "What the hell have we gotten into, bud?" he asked his pokemon, who responded by licking his trainer's hand.

The steel door opened again and Zach shot up in his seat, his gaze meeting the stern glare of the officer who had detained him. She moved towards her chair, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table with a clank that filled the otherwise silent room.

"Where were we?" the officer asked, her eyes piercing into Zach's with trained intimidation.

Zach sat up properly in his chair, keeping his hand on Leo's head. "I was telling you about the idea of profiling?" he offered in defiance.

The officer shook her head. "Mister Pine, if you want to get off without any charges you should start cooperating. We have confirmed reports that some Sinnoean's have moved into Cherrygrove, and you're the first incident we've seen of them causing any problems. Why?"

Zach simply shook his head. "You think I'm involved with them because of my nationality," he reasoned. "Look. I'm working on nothing more than a hunch, so I can understand the interrogation, but I'm not a criminal."

The officer leaned forward in response, maintaining strict eye contact. "Why were you a target?" she repeated slowly, the impatience in her voice rising.

"My boss, Professor Elm, was kidnapped. I suspect the attack was attached to my search. I asked a few too many questions, I guess," Zach said with a shrug.

Zach noticed her flinch slightly. The officer's deep auburn eyes lightened some, and the anger within them faded, as a minimal amount of surprise and concern embedded itself into her features. "Professor Elm's been kidnapped?" she asked.

Zach nodded his head. "Yes, I tried to report it, but the guard at the eastern gate said you guys were too worried about a few ships to aid me," he said, using specifics to limit the questioning.

The officer lost some tension, and her gaze completely lost the fire that burned into Zach. "Those few ships are the reason Azalea Town doesn't reach the coast anymore. Cianwood bombed the city into the forest fifty years ago. So much so that they never bothered to rebuild. So of course we're worried about them. Look around you next time you walk through the street." She gestured as though she stood in the middle of a crowd. "The people are absolutely brittle with fear."

Zach blinked in surprise. "All because some people wanted to be under Sinnoh's rule? "

"It started that way," the officer responded. "I'm not here to give you a history lesson," she hastily diverted. "I'm here to find out why two Sinnoeans are trying to kill each other in the middle of the city."

"I wasn't trying to kill him," he said as he ran his hand behind Leo's ear. "My pokemon was simply trying to protect me." His eyes squinted as he felt the deep reaches of a strain in his throat build. "We have no idea from whom. I just ask for you to not be obtuse."

Hearing the tension build in Zach's voice, she officer closed her eyes and sighed. "Look. I'm not a bitch. All I want is to make sure you're not a threat. You said you worked for professor Elm, right?" she offered, her tone softening.

Zach nodded his head and cleared his throat. "Yes, and I'm trying to find him."

"Can you prove that?" the officer offered, tilting her head forward.

Zach looked into the officers eyes to try to read her, his intuition telling him that she was being genuine. '_Maybe I can get some help after all,'_ he thought as he gestured to Elm's satchel that sat in the far corner of the room. "When you searched the bag, did you see a notebook?"

The officer nodded and stood, her high heels clicking against the cold floor as she crossed the room towards the bag. She knelt down, opening the bag and beginning to fish through the contents.

"It should have a black cover," Zach guided, doing his best to not stare at the officers skirt, which stopped halfway down her toned legs.

The officer stood, fishing the described notebook from the bag. She flipped open the cover, frowning as she skimmed over the words. For almost a minute following, she turned the pages one after the other, filling the room with the sound of the paper running over each other. As she glanced through the pages, her eyes began to dull as her attention seemed to be almost bored out of the task, Zach expected no less from the professor's notes. Finally, she stopped at the most recent entry, dated as the day before. She skimmed over the notes Elm had made by the fire, her head slowly nodding.

As she ran through the pages, Zach noticed her right hand, which had the ring finger and pinkie missing, and a large scar that ran past her wrist like a river basin. Her grip was strong on the book despite the truncated fingers, indicating she had a lot of time to get used to her injury.

"Well, it mentions you," she said as she closed the notebook with her two fingered hand. "It also mentions you were injured in an ursaring attack. If you show me the bandages that's all the proof I need." For the first time since Zach had met the officer, she actually smiled as she held up the hand. "I know a real injury when I see one."

Without hesitation Zach unzipped his jacket, removing his right arm from its sleeve. He then pulled the back of his white t-shirt up, revealing the many faded scars on his back, and the bandages that occupied his right shoulder.

"Hmm," the officer sounded, moving back to her seat as Zach recovered himself. "Good enough for me, then."She sat back down and leaned forward on the table, resting her hand on her chin. She took a deep breath as her eyes flickered over the surface of the wooden table. "So the professor is actually gone," she quietly said with genuine concern. "The attack might be linked to his disappearance, then."

"Unfortunately that's irrefutable,"

"What did the attacker say?" she asked as her head shot up, grasping at anything that could be a lead.

"Distortions embrace," Zach quoted.

The officer raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Zach put his hands together as though he would give a lecture, clearing his throat. "In Sinnoean mythology, the distortion world is a variant of the afterlife, being ruled over by the dragon Giratina. It is said that those who have wronged his followers would be sent there, after they die, in order for Giratina to punish them himself. Evidently what he said was a death threat."

"Is Giratina real?"

Zach shook his head. "He's only mentioned in myth, and can't be proven. That being said he doesn't meet the criteria for the Apotheosis Category."

"How do you know that?"

"My father was an acheologist. After he died I wanted to become one too, in order to carry on his work, but I simply didn't have the mind for it," the field assistant leaned forward and grinned in remembrance. "He was far smarter than myself,"

"Sorry for your loss," she mumbled in lack of a better response.

Zach simply nodded. "That was fifteen years ago. Don't worry about sympathy."

The officer closed her eyes and removed a piece of her black hair from her face, revealing a long scar that ran from her temple to her jaw. "So, we might be dealing with a cult based on that statement." She sat up. "Wonderful, first Ecruteak is being torn apart by its religions and now we get the same treatment."

"I've heard mention of Ecruteak before. What exactly is going on there?"

"A bunch of bullsh-"

The officer was cut off when there was a sudden clanging on the metal door, triggering the officer to spin in her chair as she reached for a pokeball. "Come in."

The door slowly opened, revealing a slightly paled Adrian, who reeked of inexperience and nervous unfamiliarity. "Ranger Mitsuni," he addressed with a salute. "I was told Assistant Zachary Pine has been detained and has requested legal advice." He spoke with professional equanimity, despite the sweat that ran down his brow.

The officer stood, returning the salute. "Ranger," she addressed. "He hasn't requested any aid," she stated with vitriolic unease. "What do you know about Distortion?" she asked as she grabbed one of her four pokeballs.

"Whoa, whoa," Zach stood quickly. "He's fine. I know him," he said hastily with a nervous chuckle.

The officer allowed a sly smile, actually appearing quite attractive despite her battered appearance. "Three seconds from having a scyther at your throat," she said with a small smirk. "Next time declare rank, full name, and station,"

"Y-yes, ma'am," the ranger replied as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Only one pokemon?" she asked incredulously as she glanced down at his belt.

"I left my other one with my wife, ma'am. For protection," the ranger said as he relaxed his stance, his eyes darting between Zach, Leo, and the officer.

The officer looked to Zach, then to Adrian. "So, neither of you are safe in this town?"

"Not to our knowledge," Zach responded and he moved across the room to obtain Elm's satchel. "And it was risky to leave Amy alone," he said to Adrian as he threw the bag over his shoulder.

Adrian nodded. "She's in the Pokemon Center in the middle of a well lit room with my quilava. She's safe,"

"Crossbow, rifle, any ice or poison-type," Zach began to list as he moved across the room towards the door. "From what I've seen, these guys ambush."

Adrian's face grew into a slight scowl. "With that said, can we just get back to the Pokemon Center? Ya' might think you're tired, but me and Amy have gone longer than you without sleep,"

"I can escort you two there," the officer said.

Zach became was stunned at these words. He not expecting this engagement to end, in any way, pleasant. "That would be preferable, actually,"

"If you guys are looking for Elm, I want to help in any way I can,"

Adrian's nervous presence melted in an instant, and a large grin cracked on his face. "Ha!" He looked at Zach. "Don't believe the word of a single gate guard, Pine."

The officer shook her head. "It's not the aid of the police. This is me helping. Elm means a lot to my brother in New Bark."

"I'll take it," Zach said as he extended his hand out to the officer. "You know my name, but I'm at a disadvantage."

With a smile, the officer reached out to Zach, and shook his hand with a two fingered grip. "Jennifer Itsana." She released her grip from Zach and repeated the gesture to Adrian. "We can retrieve your knife on the way out."

Without another word, Zach smiled and walked past Adrian, who allowed Leo passage before making his own way down the tawdry room. They walked down the hallway, passing the many patterns that the cinder blocks left in the walls. Zach glanced through each window they passed, seeing the many shadows cast by the street lights. Every shadow had the potential to host peering eyes, and a hand that could swiftly end any one of their lives.

Unless he was paying attention. Zachary had never been blooded, but he felt willing to break that characteristic if the need arose. If that man reappeared, Zach felt he would be fully prepared to spill his blood. When he felt the edges of guilt or remorse for his actions, he would simply need to look to the long term affects of this man's death, and the death of those who took Elm. At that point in time, he felt he could burn through every outlaw on the frontier to save his boss, who's research would propel this small and dusty city over the dangers of the world.

"We need to train," Adrian said as they stood in the front lobby of the barracks. His arms were crossed and his gaze was aimed directly at Zach.

"You think so?"

Adrian nodded. "We both have pokemon who need to be wiped into shape, and we rely on them for protection. Tomorrow morning."

"We don't have tim-"

"If our pokemon are weak we die. Who will look for him then, Zach?" Adrian said strictly. "Our training is progress. We hone our skills."

Zach opened his mouth as he began some protest, but became stumped on a retort. He began to consider the possibilities of their pokemon becoming stronger. Both in aerial and stealthy affiliations.

The conversation was cut short as Jennifer approached them from the front desk, handing Zach his knife with her better hand. He nodded in thanks and put the knife back into its holster before turning towards the door.

The group moved through the front doors, being embraced by the cold spring night. Adrian looked up and down the road, noticing ow poorly the flickering street lights illuminated the dirt roads. Many shadows were cast into the streets, and even more along the edges of the alleyways. In the distance, he heard a dog barking.

Thy began to move east down the road, feeling the salty air from the ocean flow over them with a scent that was oddly pleasant. Zach kept his hands out of his pockets, and ensured that Leo walked ahead of them. Adrian kept a watchful eye on the edges of the street, and Jennifer kept a weary eye on any person they passed. The streets were sparsely populated in the cities outskirts, the majority of the population keeping to the better fortified center.

"Who's your brother?" Zach asked, breaking the silence of the tense walk.

Jennifer released her gaze from the face of a passing elder, and looked at the research assistant. "He's a guard in New Bark. Elm helped him train his electabuzz."

Adrian turned his head to look at the officer in the eyes, taking a moment to scan her features. "Jason? You're Jason's sister?"

"I remember him," Zach replied. "He saved Elm's life literally two minutes after I first arrived in New Bark."

Jennifer laughed. "He sent me a telegram about that. He was so proud."

"I bet," Adrian remarked. "I remember that kid, always throwing rocks at birds or somethin'," he remarked with a grin. "He had the decorum of a grimer, I'm glad to see he stepped up."

"He was practicing his throw," Jennifer replied. "Damn guy almost got killed by a noctowl in his first venture to find a pokemon. Elm wound up giving him his electabuzz."

Zach's eyes snapped open, this was what Elm was talking about. "What exactly are the statistics of people dying in the wild to find a pokemon?"

Both Adrian and Jennifer fell silent as they scanned the dark passages and the people who walked by them. "Too many," Adrian replied.

"Latest charts put it at almost a hundred people from the Violet Region alone last year," her eyes fell to the street. "Most of them were kids trying to catch their first, no older than fifteen." he raised her glance pack up in attention. "I can't imagine what it's like in the Ilex Region. Those forests are dense."

"Professor Elm dedicated his work to breeding so people wouldn't have to wander into the wild for their first," Adrian added. "I'm sure you know that."

"He waned to do more than that," Zach replied. He looked down at the satchel. "He was on the verge of something big. He said it would change the world." His mind began to wonder at the contents of the bag.

Adrian laughed. "That's why we gotta find the man and put him back in that lab. His assistants must be worried sick, and don't get started about thinking about his wife." Despite the cheer in his words, Adrian's eyes were dull, betraying the mask his smile adorned on his face.

Zach's gaze fell to the street, sighing deeply. "We're just three against unknown numbers."

"Who they are is the better question," Jennifer replied.

Adrian looked up and scanned the road ahead of them. There was a moment where his heart jumped in his chest, and he stopped dead in his tracks. "Legends..." he swore as his eyes caught the glimpse of a small object reflecting light from a nearby streetlight. The ranger ran ahead of them, despite the protest of Jennifer.

Before Leo could even perk up to Adrian's sudden outburst, the ranger was knelt in front of the object. He turned to look at the other two, his eyes wide and his mouth gaped. He looked back and reached a trembling hand to the pair of circular glasses which caught his attention. When he picked them up, he noticed the cracked lenses, and the scratch marks left by many venture into the wild. There was no doubt about it in Adrian's mind. Professor Elm had the same glasses since before Adrian even left New Bark to train. With an expression of shock, he stood and held the spectacles over his head as if to celebrate the discovery.

"Guys!" he called out. "These are-"

Before Adrian could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the impact of a blob of black sludge that slammed into his chest, and, as though he had been hit by a truck, flew back a few inches and landed on his ass. He stared at the stars above this city, gasping for the air that the impact had forced out of his lungs.

"Shit!" Jennifer called as she reached for one of her pokeballs and threw it towards Adrian's position. "Lon, guard him!" The ball cracked open and the white light briefly illuminated the area before congealing into her aforementioned scyther.

When the monster formed, Zach's heart raced. He had never encountered a pokemon like this, and the sheer presence of the predator paled him. He hoped deep down that Jenny could control it.

The large raptor-like insect leaned forward, its long thorax acting as a tail to maintain the balance of the green monster. Its reptile-like head turned to Adrian, exposing rows of sharp teeth as it hissed to whatever it could warn.

Another loud hiss answered from the alleyway, and a small dark purple rodent emerged, its large and fluffy tail raised over its head in a warning. The tip of which was dripping with toxins. Along the back of the animal were two white strips that ran the entire length of its body, and were stained with splotches of dripped poison onto the fur.

"Again," a voice croaky ordered from the shadows. To both Zach, and Jennifer, the voice sounded nervous.

The pokemon's cat-like head lowered, and its front paws outstretched like a tripod aiming a large gun. The tail angled forward, and another assault of black sludge erupted from its tip.

The scyther dodged to the side, and the matte foam soared past its head, impacting the dirt with a corrosive hiss. At the same moment that Lon outstretched his small wings, Zach realized that the venom was corrosive, and had likely been eating away at Adrian's armour for the past half minute.

"It's a stunky!" Zach informed Jennifer. "Dark and poison-type!" He braced himself to be at Adrian's side in an instant.

As the scyther shot forward towards the small pokemon, Zach shot forward towards Adrian, letting the sounds of the battle sound beside him. He didn't wait until he stopped to fall to his knees at Adrian's side, skidding in the dirt as he immediately got to work on removing the vest. Adrian was gasping for air, evidently struggling to breath beneath the toxic fumes.

Leo took his position between his trainer and the battle, watching both people wearily. "Leo," Zach called. Come here and lie down," the fox trotted over, following Zach's gesture to proper positioning. Zach gently grabbed one of the leaves that protruded from the leafeon's head, and placed it over Adrian's nose. "Breath through this," he commanded. "Leo can filter the air. Leo, hold," he ordered his pokemon as he started to work at the straps, and the loyal fox didn't budge a tense muscle.

Jennifer watched both Zach and the battle closely, another pokeball, in her hand, at the ready. Her well trained pokemon maintained a distance, jumping back and forth as the stunky had to regain its aim constantly. She saw the fatigue build in the small rodent, which came nowhere near close to outlasting the stamina of her pokemon.

Finally, the trainer saw the opportunity arise when the rodent took too long to readjust. "Now!" she ordered, and the scyther lunged forward. The stunky was pinned to the ground with the insect's foot, and was swiftly decapitated, like a guillotine, by the scyther's scythed arms. She heard the shock from the unseen trainer, and grinned when Lon turned his attention to the cry.

"Bring him," she ordered, and the scyther darted into the alley.

Zach undid the last latch, but still felt as though he was working too slow. Adrian's eyes had become red, and his complexion pale. Leo's air purification could only slow the effects of the toxic fumes, but it would buy him time.

"Dammit, stay with me!" he swore as he removed the vest from the rangers torso. "If you die I have to tell your wife, and I'll be dead too!" he shouted as he tossed the sizzling vest aside. "Who will find Elm then?" He stood and moved behind Adrian, taking a deep breath and putting his face where the fumes lingered. He put his hands under Adrian's arms and the field assistant's muscles tensed as he began to pull him back.

He stopped and winced as the wound on his shoulder began to burn. It was beyond the point of being able to reopen, but the pain still shot through this muscle like a fire. Swearing, he repositioned and started to pull the ranger away from the fumes, his eyes watering from the pain, the fatigue, and the strain his muscles were put under.

Finally, Adrian was an acceptable distance from the toxins, and Leo was ordered to keep his purifying foliage over Adrian's mouth and nose. Zach glanced behind him, and felt the smallest level of relief that no one was behind him in preparation to kill him.

Jennifer frowned when Lon emerged from the ally with no one in his custody. She shook her head and tossed two other pokeballs to the ground, releasing a large and yellow kangaroo-like pokemon that stood prominently on its hind legs. The ampharos turned its head to her trainer, maintaining the balance of the kangaroo-like sheep with her long and powerful tail.

Beside it another pokemon emerged. The light revealed a tall and slender golduck. He stood upright, clicking its bill and looking at Jennifer with an almost human look in its bird-like eyes. The gem on his head shone dimply, indicating powerful psychic capabilities.

"Rien," she ordered the golduck. "Look after those two," she said as she pointed towards Zach and Adrian, feeling no need to short form her orders to the intelligent duck. With a nod and a click of its bill, he turned and slowly walked to the duo, sending a psychic signal of peaceful intentions to Leo.

"Amon," she said to her ampharos, who snorted at the mention of her name. "With me, start glowing. We're going to search the ally," she said he she walked past her electric-type, running her hand through its short fur affectionately. She moved past Lon, who greeted his trainer and the familiar ampharos with an affectionate humming from his wings.

A red bulb on the tip of Amon's thick tail began to glow, illuminating the dark alleyway in a red hue and the officer and her two pokemon entered the ally.

Zach glanced sidelong at the golduck, who nodded at him with a disturbingly human-like mannerism. "He's dehydrated. Can you help with that?" he asked the pokemon, who simply looked at him blankly and tilted his head to the side. Despite the pokemon's intelligence, advanced concepts were still beyond it. Zach studied psychics before, and found that their human-like behaviour was learned in a domestic setting, and not inborn.

Adrian began to wheeze, and Zach's heart jumped into his stomach from the sudden sound. He looked down, and found the ranger had paled further, and his veins beginning to protrude in his neck. He looked up, seeing the feint glow of the Pokemon Center down the street. By the time he looked back, the ranger's lips had begun to turn blue.

He turned and called to the officer. "Jennifer!" he cried out, his voice echoing off the buildings in the silence of the street. "There's no time!"

Within seconds, Amon came bounding around the corner in graceful hops, her large hoofed feet impacting the dirt hard. The ampharos stopped beside Adrian, and lowered herself to her front legs. Sniffing at the injured ranger eagerly with short brays.

Jennifer herself emerged from the alleyway immediately afterwards. She erupted from the shadows on top of a large arcanine, who landed with a particular grace. She glanced down from on top of her pokemon with a look of confident urgency. "Rien," she ordered. "Get him onto Hyana and meet me at those lights," she said as she pointed towards the distant glow of the Pokemon Center.

The golduck nodded as the gem on his head began to faintly glow. The air around Adrian shimmered, looking like feint waves in the air. He began to lift off the ground, still gasping for air and labored breaths. He was carefully drifted towards the back of the arcanine, being placed onto the pokemon's soft fur.

She returned Amon and Rien. "Lon, escort him to me," she said. Before she finished her order the acranine bolted forward with a roaring speed, leaving a large dust cloud in its path.

Glancing only briefly to the imposing bug-type, Zach shot forward in a half sprint with Leo and Lon at his sides. He took the familiar comfort of his partner, who ran with him on his left flank. A contrast to the heavily audible breaths from the scyther's maw.

In only a few minutes they reached the Pokemon Center, erupting through the front doors just in time to see Adrian pass trough the doors to the ER on a gurney. He saw Amy, who ran from behind the Pokemon Center's front desk with a large needle, moving quickly through the doors shortly thereafter.

Jennifer stood in the middle of the large and sterile white room, rubbing her arcanine's neck as it panted heavily. The drool from its tongue sizzling as it impacted the ground. Her scyther silently moved towards her, his claws clicking on the tiled floor. As he approached his trainer, she placed her other free hand on the back of his head, giving a proud pat. She then turned to meet her gaze to Zach, a small smile crossing her features.

Zach responded with a nod and slowly made his way towards one of the seats to rest. As he sat on the uncomfortable seat, he felt his head grow heavy, and his eyes began to fall as they grew heavy as well.

He was momentarily jerked back to awareness when Jennifer sat next to him, her posture professional an straight. "I'll brief you before you fall asleep," she began. "I saw signs of teleportation in the ally, so your attacker escaped. Ranger Mitsugi is in critical condition, but he should be fine if monitored closely. I'll stay here tonight, and make sure nothing happens while you guys sleep. Ok?"

Zach nodded and slowly stood. "That's fair," he muttered as he slowly walked towards the staircase that led to the hotel. Leo walked close, periodically butting his head into Zach's leg to keep him awake. Before he put his first step on the stair, he turned to look at the officer again. "My friend wants us to train our pokemon. I didn't see the merit of his idea until you displayed his meaning. I think you did more than save us tonight, you might have taught a man how to fish instead of fishing for him," he said before disappearing up the staircase.

Once he was out of sight, she shook her head and sighed. "Hope you're right," he muttered as she returned her arcanaine.

SC

Zach slowly entered his own room, the night's events replaying in his mind like a broken record. Through adrenaline and a still racing heart, he mustered the energy to reach into his jacket and retrieve Riley's pokeball. The capsule cracked open, filling the dark room with the light of the congealing pichu. Riley approached his trainer, who reached a hand out to him.

From outside the hotel, a passerby jumped in surprise when the window above her flashed with an electrical discharge, and from the immediate yelp of pain that cried from within the building. She stopped and stared at the glass for a moment, and then simply shook her head and shoved her hands into her pockets as she moved on.

Zach stared at the red mark on his forearm, scolding Riley and running it under the tap of the room's bathroom. He was awake now, and he still saw the black dots fly through his vision like imagined gnats. He held the tingling flesh under the tap or a few minutes until the pain receded an acceptable amount.

He stepped out of the bathroom, running a cloth carefully over himself to dry, and couldn't help but smile at the scene he walked in on. Leo had Riley gingerly pinned to the floor with his front paw, his folded tail wagging and the small mouse playfully squirming under the older pokemon's gentle hold. A smaller surge of electricity flashed into Leo's paw, being barely felt by the grass-type.

"Bed, guys," he ordered as a parent would. Leo unpinned Riley and jumped onto the bed, curling up near the foot. Zach helped the pichu up, and it scampered over to the leafeon, the two cuddling up as they began to doze off.

Zach himself laid on the bed and closed his eyes, but the surge of electricity through his system seemed to drive him out of sleep's grasp for the moment. With a sigh, he rose to a sitting position, raising himself from his bed.

He grabbed Elm's satchel and peered inside, sighing in discontent on seeing the mud Riley had tracked onto the reports and files. He he begun to fish through the papers to see the full extent of the damage, and noticed one file that was particularly large, stapled together neatly in a fashion uncharacteristic of the other papers.

_Maybe some reading will help me sleep,_ Zach thought as he pulled the document from the bag. Everything was hand written, which made sense to the field assistant, who had not seen a computer containing the proper software for writing documents in Elm's lab.

To Zach, this at first sounded profound, but as he spent more time on the frontier he learned of the priorities the people had. Pen and paper would do what writing software could while a radar could only be done with very specific requirements, and had no alternatives.

He read the first page, which detailed who wrote the paper, and the proper identification in case correspondence were needed. He flipped it to the second page, seeing a name he had heard passively in conversations with his boss. It contained only two lines.

In the event where I am unable to carry out this work due to some contingency, please notify Mr. Pokemon.

57 Appleview Street, Rosemount of the Violet Region

Zach's mouth hung open, and he reread the words until sleep enveloped him in its warm embrace.

SC

Jennifer remained in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, periodically glancing up at the clock that hung over the front desk. Despite her relaxed position, he kept a strict vigil and was constantly taking a perusal of her surroundings. Her eyes attentively shot towards the doors, which led to the emergency rooms, as they flung open and exposed the woman she had only seen briefly before.

Her amber eyes matched the officers in tone, but hers were red as to give an indication of the weight she had been put under this night. It only took her a glance at her right ring finger to verify that she was married and confident, but was doing her best to endure the height of almost losing her husband.

The girl flashed a glance in her direction, taking only a moment to herself before quickly moving across the room in her direction. As she grew closer, Jennifer's sharp vision caught the remnants of tears on her cheek, and sweat on her brow. She had wondered if she was in the room with the doctors while they operated on him.

Her eyes followed the small girl as she approached, and her position shifted to be straight and blended professional with casual. There were a few tense seconds as Jennifer listened to her footsteps grow louder, and she prepared herself mentally. After those seconds, the girl stood only a foot in front of her, with eyes that shifted awkwardly around on the floor.

Exposed emotionally, Amy heaved a quivering sigh as she shook, and her gaze finally met the officers. Jennifer disallowed herself the first word, this conversation would have to be directed by the impacted girl.

Only after a brief pause did Amy speak. "Thank you."

Jennifer nodded and gave a comforting smile. "You're welcome," she said warmly.

Amy took a seat on the other end of the cushioned bench, staring the the dirty floor by her feet. "I tried to help them, but I couldn't do it. Anyone else and I could have stayed calm."

Jennifer nodded. "I'm sure what you managed to do helped them save him."

Amy remained silent for a few minutes afterwards, during which Jennifer remained vigilant on the clock, and the surroundings. The time for another patrol was coming close, but that could wait as Amy finally spoke. "His friend. Did he help?"

"Zach?" she asked, to which Amy nodded. "I've never seen anyone rush to someone's aid that fast. Your husband was lucky he was there."

Amy tightened her mouth, and she nodded again slowly. "That's good. I'm glad he was there. How did he help?"

Jennifer immediately responded. "He removed your husband's armour due to the acid, and dragged him out of the lingering fumes. He seems to know what he's doing."

Amy turned her head to meet the officer's eyes, evident relief and concern mixed together in an emotional paradox. "I was having my doubts about trusting him. I've been having doubts about everyone lately."

The officer shook her head. "No matter how bad things are, there will always be people willing to help. Just because you have bandits on the roads, doesn't mean that everyone else follows that mindset."

Amy sighed knowingly, putting an elbow on her knee and resting her head on her hand. "Yet we're attacked in the streets of your city."

"Those people aren't from here, and have no place in Johto," Jennifer offered.

"They're here now, though, and my husband and his friend were both attacked less than two hours apart. How the hell are we supposed to feel like we can trust _anyone_?" the wife said with strain and anger.

Jennifer's shoulders tensed at the outburst, but her eyes filled with empathy. "Miss Mitsugi, I deal with the bottom of the barrel almost every day. I see the shit of mankind, and those who make a living off of other people's loss and misery. I deal with those people all day, and guess what?" the officer asked.

Amy didn't respond, only giving an irritated shrug.

"I see the same faces over and over again. Cherrygrove has thirteen hundred people in it, and I deal with maybe one hundred of them. I remind myself that, even though there are criminals and scum, they are the minority among twelve hundred other honest people."

There was a long pause in the conversation, then Amy stood up, her hands were clenched tightly. "I don't know how you maintain that mindset, but I see your point," she admitted quietly. "How do we ensure our own safety?" she asked as she briskly released the question that ate at her for the entire night.

Jennifer stood as well, rubbing out the wrinkles on her uniform. "By taking charge of your situation with courage. Show them you won't be intimidated, and show them that trying to break you is like waking up a snorlax," she said as she took a step closer to Amy. "Because when a snorlax wakes up, entire towns are evacuated."

Amy's eyes flared with uneasy inspiration, and her posture relaxed. "Be a snorlax?"

"As cheesy as the saying sounds, yes. That's what my father told me when I left Violet City."

"You're telling us to be vigilantes?"

Jennifer smiled. "Nothing violent. We're smarter than a snorlax, and are capable of much more. There are better methods than fighting, but a snorlax destroys, and you can do that without bloodshed."

"But... if we're attacked again?"

Jennifer's gaze darkened, and her face grew stern. "Then be a snorlax."

Amy produced Quen's pokeball from her belt, eyeing the capsule up and down as she remembered the times before where the quilava had protected both of them loyally. She nodded. "Be a snorlax," she repeated.

Jennifer's expression returned to her soft and comforting gaze, and she nodded. "Yes," she said as she looked up at the clock. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to do a patrol. Will you be ok?"

Amy nodded, and her tired eyes evidently grew heavy. "Thank you," she said again and shook the officer's hand. The nurse was taken aback briefly by the missing appendages, but didn't mention it to be polite. "I'll be in room fifty six if anything comes up about my husband."

"Both you and Zach will know."

Amy released her grip and turned for the stairs, thanking the officer again before disappearing as Zach did an hour ago.

_'Sweet girl,' _Jennifer thought as she moved towards the nurse's desk. She leaned on it as she stared down the attending nurse, who glanced at her sidelong for a few moments before paying her full attention.

"If anything changes with Adrian Mitsugi, let me know," she said and she pushed herself away from the desk without hearing the verification from the nurse.

She reached for Rien's pokeball, deciding it was his turn for company. Amon had her turn before that, and it went without incident. She wished Rien had the same illuminating abilities as the ampharos, but his psychic abilities made up for wandering in the dark.

As she walked through the front doors, the golduck congealed and looked to his trainer for orders. She simply waved him to her as she walked town the street, turning into the now familiar alleyway. As she emerged herself into the darkness, she began to fish for the flashlight on her belt, swearing when she realized she left it at the station.

Did she want to go back for it? She pondered the question as she looked into the umbrageous corridor, but she shrugged to herself and she slowly made her move into the alley.

The darkness surrounded her, but she took comfort in her golduck's presence. She reached her hand out, finding the oily feathers of her companion on her two fingered hand and smiled faintly to herself as she remembered back to the days of her travels when things like this were the norm.

By the time her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she had reached the back way that led behind the hotel. Her vision picked up the faint outlines of a dumpster and a distant fence that separated the back of the hotel and the Pokemon Center. As well as the blur of a cat that scampered away from the sight of the dominant pokemon.

Or she thought it was from her golduck, but the sounds of bottles falling and the rustling of garbage bags made her think otherwise. She silently ordered Rien to move forward, crouching down as she took silent steps towards the source of the sound. Jennifer stopped at the dumpster, and poked her head around to find the dark outlines of a man facing the wall.

He spoke quietly to himself, the most interesting of the words being kerosene. His voice was cracking and high pitched, and accented with that familiar Sinnoean cadence. Her brow furrowed as her face grew into a scowl, and she immediately ordered Rien to hold him.

The man stopped at once when he noticed the feint red glow, and only turned slightly before the air around him shimmered and flickered with a constant purple glow.

Before he could speak, Jennifer stepped forward and jammed her baton into his mouth. "Anything risky and you'll be spending the rest of the night looking for your teeth in this alley. Got it?" she growled. "Now, what the hell are you doing back here talking about kerosene?" She removed the baton, but kept it close to his face, making sure it remained in his field of vision.

The small man could only emit a series of half excuses, and wildly varying stories that contradicted each other so bad that even Rien could have seen through them when he was a psyduck. She had him surprised, and his intentions became clear.

She chuckled. "Sinnoean, huh? I had a run in with one of you earlier..." she said quietly, and trailed off. She looked at his belt, noticing two pokeballs, one of which had a black lens, indicating that the pokemon the ball belonged to was dead. "Wait. I guess it's still only one. What's the story, assassin?"

The man remained quiet, only silently whimpering.

Jennifer nodded and produced a pair of handcuffs from her belt. "Let me tell you something about myself. I'm a six badge trainer, and I doubt any of your pokemon could hold up against mine. So, let's make this easy, and let my golduck put your hands behind your back."

* * *

><p><strong>Jennifer is Jenny - Just in case anyone is unclear on that. I had a lot of fun writing her.<strong>

**I think this chapter turned out alright. It was definitely fun to write. Some of the scenes might not seem to fit, as I had a brain wave about plot development halfway through writing this. The most recent addition being the conversation between Jenny and Amy. I know 'be a snorlax' sounds stupid, but since I wrote it me and my buddies have been laughing about it so I kept it in. :p**

**Let me know what you think of the simpler narrative in the reviews, and thanks for reading. The next update will be a bit since I want to rework the older chapters. **


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